


Life is Stupid

by TheSlipperyOne



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game), Life Is Strange 2 (Video Game)
Genre: But not too sad, Comedy, Daniel is okay, Disclaimer: writing in this is like a 6/10 cuz I'm not trying too hard here, It takes a big twist at one point, Lots of different realities are created once again because Max never learns, Multi, Not Really Character Death, Post-Blood brothers ending, Post-Save Chloe Price Ending, Road Trips, Romance, Sean has a low-key drinking problem, Some sweet sweet Max and Chloe growth, Telekinesis, The Office, Time Travel, Trauma, but it's not that bad, camera crew follows them, character interviews, gayyyyy, however I have spent many months writing this so I will be sad if you hate it, if you're looking for Rachel you gotta wait for around chapter 25, lots of swearing, my first fan fiction, you just gotta wait
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:21:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 92,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26184115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSlipperyOne/pseuds/TheSlipperyOne
Summary: When a camera crew gets assigned a project to document unconventional lifestyles, they realize they have hit the absolute jackpot when two gay bimbos come to visit their step-dad in Arizona. It wasn't in the plan, but now they are heading south to a small, coastal village in Sonora Mexico called Puerto Lobos.Max and Chloe meet Sean and Daniel and the camera crew has got it all on tape. What happens when you mix a time traveling sleuth, her chaotic girlfriend who only recently learned how to NOT DIE, a disaster-bi mechanic, and his extremely- EXTREMELY energetic little brother?  It's nothing good obviously. Watch as romance, danger, and chaos ensue, and these four learn how to work together.No one can call you a bad writer if your intention is to write bad. If you are in the mood for a story that could be titled, "Life is Strange, but this time it doesn't hurt." then you have come to the right place. This fic is also supposed to feel like The Office, but if you don't like The Office- THAN IT IS NOTHING LIKE THE OFFICE.By chapter 28 it kinda takes a turn. I am a one-man team here, I make all the executive decisions. Sometimes I get a little carried away I will not lie.
Relationships: Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Chloe Price, Rachel Amber/Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Chloe Price freeform?? it's more-so Max and Rachel, Sean Diaz/Original Male Character
Comments: 38
Kudos: 34





	1. Away

**Author's Note:**

> In this episode, David decides that it is finally time to tell Max and Chloe about the strange little boy he knows who happens to have telekinesis. Max and Chloe decides that it is finally time to tell David that they are in fact, the ones who unintentionally destroyed Arcadia Bay.

Six years (and two weeks) after the events at the border

* * *

And action-

This is a project for a film class: a documentary on a group of people living a non-conventional life. Welcome to AWAY. It wasn’t supposed to morph into what you are seeing now, but hey...life is stupid sometimes and things just don’t work out.

David woke up inside his trailer all alone. He sat up in bed and put on his morning pants; nice and flowy because ya man do be a hippy now. He poured himself a cup of coffee to get those bowels moving and then sat outside at his table across from the camera crew who had been visiting Away for about a week now.

“Not much happens out here in the middle of nowhere in the desert amiright? Karen and I had our own little getaway from Away in Mexico a few nights ago. Went to go see her boys for a bit, catch up yaknow.” David nodded awkwardly, trying not to continuously make eye contact with the cameraman. “How was your weeken- oh I’m not supposed to talk to you? Oh…” 

Karen’s arm poked in to the shot, “Phone’s ringing, Davie. It’s your daughter.” 

David took his cell phone, or as he had been previously calling it in the show: stupid, and he swiped open the call. David did not take his eyes off the camera lens. “Hello?” He started. “Hey sweet-pea- I gotta put you on speaker, okay? The video guys are here to capture life at Away again.” 

“Ah that fucking blows!” Chloe fucking Price said with the sound of dishes clanking in the background and loud indiscernible music playing.

“Chloe, you gotta turn the music off or this might get copy-written.” The camera zoomed in on David’s face as he continued to NOT TAKE HIS GODDAMN EYES OFF THE CAMERAMAN. “Wha'chu calling for Chloe?” 

“Oh you know...routine papa check up. You’ve been pretty quiet lately. Wazzuppp??” Chloe asked through the phone. Chloe was now the straight boy everyone knew in eighth grade.

David laughed in disappointment and rubbed his beard, “Just got back from my trip to Mexico with Karen, we couldn’t really use our phones down there.” 

“Oooh, a sexy vacation to Mexico with Karen? How saucy-”

“CHLOE,” David was blushing. Hot tea: David do be out here catching feelings for Karen. The camera crew got the tapes. “it was not a vacation! We went to visit her two sons, Sean and Daniel. Don’t you remember me mentioning them a few years ago?”

“Right, right. I forgot she had kids. What are you...like their dad now? They’re the ones with the dead dad right? I know that filling in for dead fathers is kinda your thing.”

David sighed and shielded his eyes as the camera zoomed in on him, “Chloe...that was a bit far.” The camera zoomed further, “You can’t be joking like that. I am NOT their dad. I am SIMPLY Karen’s friend who cares about her kids, and I offered to go see them because it’s been six years since I last saw them.” David whispered, shifting around uncomfortably in his plastic chair.

Chloe tried to suppress her laughter, “Ehhh are you sure you didn’t hook up with Karen while you were there? Story seems a little bit sus…” In the background a toaster popped and another voice said, “FUCK! I burnt the toast…” A solemn moment of silence for the toast. 

“Chloe I swear...if you don’t stop joking about that- I’ll head right over to California and give you a piece of my mind!” David said sternly, really turning dad mode on for the camera. “I am on TELEVISION right now!” He whispered angrily. 

“Oh, you know you love her. I’m only gassing you a little bit. It’s no biggie Daaad.” Chloe explained. “So how are Karen’s kids?” 

Then, before David could begin, Max appeared on the phone, “Oh my god, David! It’s so nice to hear from you!” 

“Hello Max, sorry to hear about your...toast.” David said. Max didn’t say anything else on the phone. “Anyway.” 

“Sean is the ten year old right? He’s doing good right? Is he the one that used bombs to blow up the border that one time?” Chloe asked.

David looked unimpressed. “No, Chloe...Sean is twenty two now. Daniel is the little one. He is sixteen.” 

Chloe took a big bite of toast into the phone, “Right- oops.” 

“Do you even listen to me?” David stumbled on his words for a moment, “And you can’t just go around saying they used bombs to blow up the border- that ain’t the truth!”

Chloe crunched her burnt toast slowly, “Buuut...that's what the papers all said. The only reason I remember that kid is because he blew up the fucking border with bombs. That’s a power move if I’ve ever seen one. Kid knows that the immigration process to get into America is too hard, he did some folks a solid.”

Everyone in America seemed to know about Sean and Daniel. The trending headline was, “Two brothers blow up Arizona border between Mexico and America. Thirty people injured. Criminals escape to Mexico.” It was not a good thing. 

“Uh…” David mumbled, his eyes darting back and forth from the man behind the camera to his phone. He slowly stood up from his seat and gestured for the man to give him a moment as he went inside his trailer. “Chloe, I’ve been thinking…” David said, not realizing that his microphone was still hooked up to his shirt, “I’m gonna let you in on a secret.”

When Sean and Daniel left Away, David didn’t think much about Daniel’s power. Although it was a cool power, he never saw Daniel as the boy who could move things with his mind. Daniel was just Daniel. When the police came to question everyone at Away he lied and pretended that Daniel was just a kid who liked playing with bombs. He figured that the government finding out about a little boy with superpowers would be handled even worse than the government finding out about a little boy who liked playing with bombs. After visiting the boys in Mexico though, he noticed how much this strange power had been helping them both stay safe. He just couldn’t let Chloe go on living in ignorance. 

“Now...Chloe, you can’t tell this to anyone-” David began with a grave tone.

“What about me?! Should I leave the room?” Max asked.

“Oh Max! You’re still here...yes you can stay.” David said, noticing the camera poking up through the cracks in the blinds. He promptly shut the blinds but still was oblivious to the fact that he had a little black microphone clipped to his shirt. “Daniel has a special power.”

Chloe snorted, “A power?! Wow David...what kind of hippy drugs have you been taking? That sounds like some wack-ass shit I’d come up with while I’m high.” 

“I’m being serious.” David said in a serious tone, obviously. “He can control things...with his mind and whatnot...”

“Press X to doubt that.” Chloe said, “Do you mean he’s got telekinesis? People don’t just have...telekinesis. Don’t let the drugs speak for you, David. You know better than that.” 

“Chloe, I swear to you! You know I don’t do drugs! He is an actual miracle. When his dad was shot back in Seattle everything started happening. He could destroy things just by thinking about it ever since the accident. It’s almost as though the trauma triggered it…” David explained. “A monumental, high tension, traumatic moment caused him to get a mysterious power.”

You could only imagine how Max and Chloe were looking at each other right now. Ain’t that just the most specific way to get a power ever!? Sounds a lot like someone else we know, doesn’t it? There was some low mumbling on the other end of the phone.

“David- Max and I need to tell you something we’ve been neglecting to tell you for a while.” 

David was silent on the phone for a moment, “Are...are you guys getting married? I can’t help you pay for the wedding. I am really tight on money after that trip.” 

Max poked her head into the phone conversation, “No David. It’s about me. You were just talking about how you know a little boy with powers…”

“Yeah I was just talking about it with Chloe. You know, if I had a nickel for every time I’ve met someone with a strange power like that- I would have exactly one nickel- but it is so crazy to even have one, ain’t it?!” David said with a chuckle.

“DAVID. I REGRET TO INFORM YOU, BUT I ALSO HAVE A POWER.” Max said firmly. 

Now it was David’s turn to doubt. He sighed, “I know it sounds far off, but you can’t be joking about this. I am being serious. The papers LIED.” 

Max sounded concerned, “I’m being serious too. The night of the storm...how do you think I was able to tell you exactly where Mark would be and when he would be there, and where you should hide, and that Chloe was in danger, and that you needed to stay safe in the bunker because a tornado was about to destroy the town. DAVID PUT TWO AND TWO TOGETHER!” 

David did not respond. 

“David, I am sorry, but you have **two** nickels.”

His gasp was audible through the trailer walls, “What...what does that mean?!?! Two nickels?!” 

“I can time travel.” Max said.

“That...that- that ain’t right?!” 

Chloe piped in, “Neither is telekinesis, man, but you seem to love that little fart with telekinesis quite a bit. I bet you’d pay for his wedding.” she said aggressively. 

“You mean to tell me that you can travel in time? You could’ve saved Arcadia Bay?! How **dare** you, Max!” David said angrily. 

“It’s not that simple…” Max desperately tried to explain. “I did do that and it didn’t work. Time was so fucked up...trust me, Chloe wouldn’t be here today if the storm never happened. Time is an absolute shit show. I did everything I could- I swear.” 

“I-” David sighed, “Well then...I guess I have two nickels now. If I’m asking you to believe my story, the least I can do is believe your story.” 

Unprompted, Chloe interjected into the conversation. “David, Max and I are coming to visit you.” 

“-Chloe what the fuck? We’ve hardly been in California for a month and you already want to leave?!” Max asked, shocked.

“I think we should talk in person, David.” Chloe said.

Max key smashed in real life. 

“Dude!! We gotta go meet this kid!! If he really does have a power we could like- totally know someone else with a crazy power! How cool would that be!? You guys could be a wicked powerful team of superheroes! We could be the fucking Avengers!!” Chloe exclaimed. “Don’t you wanna be the real life Avengers?”

Max groaned sheepishly, “I don’t know...I don’t even use my power much anymore. I’m too scared I’ll mess up time again. Plus, the kid probably won’t even believe us- I mean, we didn’t believe David, and he’s your straight edge step-dad. As if a ten year old is gonna believe that two random gay bimbos can time travel.”

“Ugh come on, Max. We need to at least try. Now that we know there’s another person like you we could maybe find others. MAKE AN EVEN BIGGER TEAM OF AVENGERS!”

“Alright.” Max said. 

David agreed for them to come visit, and they quickly set up a date. It was officially going to be a ROAD TRIP TO ARIZONA. 

David hung up his phone and exited his trailer, immediately coming face to face with the camera man. He was a deer in the headlights. 


	2. Road-trip to Arizona

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max and Chloe drive to Away to see David and discuss this new found super-child.

Max and Chloe drove two days to get from the west side of California to the middle of nowhere in Arizona. They traveled for roughly six hours a day which was totally fine for them because Max brought her Nintendo Switch in the truck and just played games with her headphones on while Chloe jammed out alone. 

When they pulled up to ‘Away’ David was already waiting for them outside with Karen. A trail of dust followed Chloe’s truck and they made a super bad-ass entrance. Chloe’s truck was hardly noticeable; if you thought it was dirty before, you should see it now. 

Chloe turned the car off and plopped out of the driver's seat, Max followed beside her looking pretty grumpy and sweaty. David greeted Chloe with a big hug and so did Karen. Chloe really liked Karen. Every time her and Max went to visit David she always spent a lot of time hanging out with Karen. 

**

Chloe sat in the same chair David was sitting in when she called him, her feet propped up on his folding table. 

“Hmm...my thoughts on Karen? Despite her problematic past, I do love her. She's got balls. Sometimes balls are a curse though cuz they make you do some shit you probably shouldn’t do. She is like...wayyy too cool for David.” Chloe gagged, “Have you seen his man bun?! Jeez pop...it was twenty thirteen nine years ago...you’re late.”

**

**

Now it was Max’s turn in the chair. She sat with her hands in her lap and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear- not like Debby Ryan- but like kinda yeah.

“I think this is gonna be an exciting trip for Chloe and I. Yeah...yeah I gotta keep telling myself that. It’s gonna be strange. If Sean and Daniel don’t want to talk to us, I think we’re gonna stay at some sort of motel...we haven’t really looked into it- we aren’t that great at planning things.” Max explained, rocking around in her seat. “All i want is some air conditioning.” She said as the camera zoomed into her red, sweaty face.

**

“So, let's talk ‘buidness’ pop. Max and I want to meet this magic kid.” Chloe said, taking her sunglasses off all swaggy.

David looked at Karen with his jaw slightly dropped, “Uhh...Chloe you were supposed to keep that private…”

Karen looked at David angrily, “You told the girls about Daniel?!” 

Chloe did some finger guns and walked off into David’s trailer. Max lugged her bags over to Karen, “I am so sorry about her, Karen. It might make more sense if I tell you why we’re here. You see, I have a power too. It’s not quite the same as this telekinesis stuff, but it’s just as strange. I can reverse time, and my whole life only Chloe has known. David told us about Daniel and I realized that there may be others out there who are like me. I need to meet him.”

Karen wobbled around on her feet nervously, “I don’t know if it’s such a safe idea for you two to be doing this. I don’t want anything putting them in danger…” She said, biting at her nails. 

David held onto her hands, “I think this could be helpful for Daniel to know that there’s someone else like him out there.”

Karen shook her head, “But what about Sean?”

Max looked awkwardly at the camera man while they shared this intimate moment.

“Ehh...Sean’ll have fun with Chloe! She’s entertaining, they’re the same age roughly- they’ll get along. Daniel needs emotional support from someone like Max.”

Max butt in, “She sure is entertaining! I would pay him good money to take her off my hands for a while.” 

The three of them glanced around at each other for an awkward amount of time. In the background, the camera caught Chloe having the time of her life exploring David’s trailer. Through the window she held up an old pair of underwear she found in the sink. Her jaw dropped and she pointed between David and Karen. Max shook her head in disappointment. 

“I don’t know...maybe you should let me think about it for a while.” Karen said. 

Like the nice, considerate person Max was, she...stuck her hand out and went back in time to try to word her request another way.

Karen wobbled around on her feet nervously, “I don’t know if it’s such a safe idea for you two to be doing this. I don’t want anything putting them in danger…” She said, biting at her nails. 

“Chloe and I are really sneaky. I promise! We are the most careful and unsuspecting people ever! I promise we wouldn’t attract any attention.” Max explained. 

Suddenly in the background Chloe screamed from inside David’s trailer, attracting everyone’s attention, and they all ran inside. Chloe deadass chopped the tip of her finger off while playing with one of the knives David had laying around his trailer. Max sighed and reversed time again. 

Karen wobbled around on her feet nervously, “I don’t know if it’s such a safe idea for you two to be doing this. I don’t want anything putting them in danger…” She said, biting at her nails. 

“Hang on one second, I need to go stop Chloe from getting her finger chopped off by a knife.” Max explained, the camera following her as she walked into David’s trailer. Karen and David trailed close behind her and were shocked when they saw Chloe examining one of David’s most prized knives. “Chloe. Drop the knife.” And Chloe did just that. Usually, when Max tells her not to do something it's for a good reason, so Chloe has been trained to stop doing things. 

Karen’s eyes widened, “How...how did you know that was going to happen?” She asked, surprised. 

“Because it already happened. I told you I can reverse time.” 

“Maxxie-poo knows how to protect us. Which is exactly why we should get to meet your magic son. Do you know how psyched he’d be to find out someone out there is just like him?!” Chloe said, sounding super proud of her soft, little girlfriend. 

“Daniel needs some emotional support from someone like me...Sean will have fun with Chloe! She’s entertaining, they’re the same age roughly- they’ll get along. Chloe is really great at being a distraction.” Max added. 

"I really am."

David smiled, “I couldn’t have said that better myself.” 

Karen’s body relaxed as she gave in, “Well...if you put it that way. Daniel might enjoy meeting some new people who he can trust. Things have been pretty lonely for him out there. I feel really bad...”

Chloe jumped for joy, “Hell yeah!! This is gonna be the most awesome adventure ever!! I can’t wait to meet that little magic fart!!” 

“Chloe…” Karen said, grabbing Chloe by the arm and looking rather disappointed, “I would suggest you never call him ‘little magic fart’.”

Max also grabbed Chloe’s arm, “Don’t worry. I’ll be the one doing the talking.” 

There it was, things were all settled. The girls were going to Mexico to find Sean and Daniel. They first needed to have a talk with David about what to expect, but that was only going to be for later in the day. Max and Chloe wanted to spend some time catching up with Stanley and Arthur, and Joan. Stanley and Arthur had AC in their trailer so they visited with them first because Max was turning into a bowl of Max soup.    
  


It was around seven pm and the dessert was beginning to cool down. Max, Chloe, Karen and David all sat around the table outside his trailer and began to discuss their upcoming trip. Of course, Max and Chloe sat next to each other and shared a blanket; they were cute like that. This was a very serious mission, so Max took notes on everything David and Karen told her. 

“When you get to Puerto Lobos, you’re gonna want to look for the Diaz Repair shop- but don’t ask for any help from anyone, because we don’t want anyone following you. Also, it’s blue. So look for a blue building that says DI-AZ RE-PAIR SH-OP. Okay?” David said very slowly. Max quickly jotted that down.

“If anyone tries to talk to you on the way there, don’t reply in a suspicious way. Just say that you’re visiting old friends. Don’t ask for any help if you get lost. If you get lost...Max you better make Chloe turn that truck around and then try again.” Karen told them. Max nodded. 

David added, “They are very nice young boys, don’t get me wrong, but if they seem stand-off-ish don’t judge them. We are trying our best to discreetly send them a message saying that two strangers are about to be stopping by, but lord knows if Daniel is gonna check his messages on his Playbox.”

“When someone answers the door, say that you know us. That might make them feel a bit more at ease. Only knock on their door if it’s after five pm, that's when Sean, the oldest, is done working, so he shouldn’t have any customers around.” Karen suggested. 

“Is there anything that we should avoid doing?” Max asked. 

The camera man had trouble keeping up with all the people talking.

“Don’t let the neighbors see you, they might get suspicious.” Karen said.

“Don’t let Chloe lead. That is a **bad** idea.” David said, smugly. 

“What?!” Chloe shouted.

“Chloe, he is right. I’m leading the conversations.” Max said.

“Damn...okay Max. I will remember that the next time you don’t wanna talk to the pizza guy on the phone.” 

“Don’t scare Daniel. He is very protective of his older brother.” Karen said. 

“Don’t scare Sean. He is willing to let Daniel throw you. Remember: Daniel has telekinesis and deals with shitty people everyday. Whatever you do- DO NOT BE SHITTY.” David said.

“Anything else worth noting?” Max asked.

“Sean charges some hefty prices for any vehicle repairs, so Chloe don’t ask him to fix up anything in your truck unless you are willing to pay for his time.” Karen added finally.

The camera zoomed on Chloe, “Fuck him man...I’m like family at this point. I’ll get a discount- I’ll make it happen. He’s giving me a discount...”

David and Karen exchanged nervous looks. Max buried her face in her hands. 

And that was that; all the rules were settled. Max and Chloe were leaving for their journey in the morning. Very quick, I know, but we aren’t trying to beat around the bush here. They got business to attend to!


	3. Truck go BANG

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty now, we are on our way to Puerto Lobos! Everything is going well until Chloe makes one fateful gay joke and Max pukes.

**

It was now the next morning, and Max and Chloe were having breakfast on David’s table outside. 

“Leaving for Mexico in an hour- BOOYAH!” Chloe shouted, forcefully wrapping her arm around Max’s shoulder. “I couldn’t be more excited right now!”

Max did not look enthused. “Five hour drive…”

“It is gonna be sick! Are you psyched to go- oh...you’re not supposed to talk in this? Oh sorry...I’m sure you’re psyched.” 

Max leaned in to Chloe, “Can we go lather me in sunscreen now?”

Chloe winked.

Max shook her head in disappointment.

**

Somehow, and you’re not gonna believe this, four people were able to fit into Chloe’s truck. Max, Chloe, camera man, and the sound guy. It was squishy, but at least no one needed to ride in the back. That would be very dangerous given the speed Chloe was driving at. Every time they hit even the smallest bump, the sound guy’s microphone jabbed into Max’s stomach. Every time.

“Chloe, left turn right here.” Max said from behind her map that had only one lazy line leading from Arizona to Puerto Lobos. “LEFT TURN DUDE!” 

“Shit man! Do I look like I know what left is?!” Chloe yelled. They weren’t really travelling on a proper road, and Chloe needed to follow the lines on the street to know her directions. Gays don’t know directions. I can say that. I am allowed. 

They left early enough in the morning for their trip and everything was going swimmingly. Puerto Lobos was only about five hours away from...well…’Away’, so they had lots of time to spare if they were to get lost. When they first crossed the border, Chloe yelled out the word cactus every time she saw a cactus, but she had to stop pretty soon after she started because there were lots of cacti. Don’t know how many times the cameraman caught that, but there was definitely gonna be a cactus montage at the end of this documentary.

**

“I am extremely anxious about this trip.” Max said, standing outside of the truck right before they had to leave. “Strangers are not my cup of tea- especially if I’m trying to convince them that I can time travel. Like, “Hey! I heard you have telekinesis and that is so cool! Wah wah wah- I can reverse time!” that sounds like a definite way to get punched in the face.” She explained, rubbing her arms. 

Max swallowed hard and nodded in realization, “I am once again being peer pressured into glorified Avengers role play by my girlfriend.”

**

“We’re nearly there- we have about a mile left to go before it's just a game of Where's Waldo.” Max explained. “Just keep going straight.” 

“I’m sorry Max, but I’m afraid I can't do that. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we have infact been in a **very** homosexual, monogamous relationship for about  **nine** years n-” but suddenly Chloe lost control of the car after hitting a decently large rock that happened to be hiding on the side of the road. Hitting that decently large rock lead them to gently ramming into a giant boulder. The girls were fine (and so was the camera crew), but the front of Chloe’s truck was smoking. If you’re wondering why Max didn’t just use her power to rewind here...stop wondering- don’t think about that. Lets just say her power ‘conveniently didn’t work’ for the sake of the plot. I don't make the rules. I don’t even enforce the rules. I say fuck the rules, and therefore by association you say fuck them too. 

“Bruh-”

“Ah nuts.” Max groaned. "You really can't be straight…"

They both stepped out of the truck and Chloe opened the hood of the car. Shit looked  **rough** ! Chloe shut the hood and turned around to face Max. Max looked very displeased by their current situation. 

Chloe put her lips together and rocked on her feet, “At least we only have about a mile left to go until we reach the repair shop...and I’m dead certain I have a family discount there.”

**

Chloe stood off to the side in front of her truck while Max was crouched in the sand far behind her.

“Mm...yeah. I’ll admit it: that was not a smart move on my part.” Chloe said, crossing her arms over her chest, “I’m not gonna say this is a bad trip though…” She paused, “not yet.”

**

After Chloe crashed the car they were left to their own devices...their feet. Max hated everything. She was so sweaty and hot and she already had like three different sun burns- it was shit. Max didn’t like heat. Chloe was doing okay though, she had control over the map now, and was left in charge of remembering where they left the truck. They were fucked. 

Luckily, they only had to walk for a short while before coming across some buildings, and that meant that they were going to need to do some hunting. Max didn’t even have enough sweat left to be nervous sweating. 

Heat stroke Max was having visions of water. Everything looked like water. She just wanted a sip of water but she already drank all her water. This was a disaster! Chloe was looking really hot. Chloe was looking like a hot bottle of water. Slurp slurp bitch. 

Chloe nudged Max’s shoulder, but Max’s skin hurt so bad from being so hot that she didn’t even have a reaction. She was numb to the pain. “MAX! Look!! Diaz Repair Shop! We made it!!” Chloe said, speeding up her walking pace. 

Max struggled to find her words, “Fu...fuck man...we gotta get there. Don’t run...I can’t keep up.” 

Chloe pulled Max along like she was an excited dog on a leash. They approached the repair shop and stopped by some bushes. 

“So...should we knock on the store’s door? Or...the back door? What’s weirder?” Chloe asked, examining the shop front. She thought the place looked pretty neat. “Should we throw rocks at the windows and lure them outside? Or could that be seen as romantic?”

“Chloe…”Max groaned, “I’m so hot I feel like I’m gonna puke.” And then Max proceeded to puke into the sand. Chloe stepped away in disgust. “We can’t put them into any danger...” She said, coughing up her breakfast; some Mini-wheat cereal.

Chloe made Max squat down with her, “Dude, you just puked from being too hot. You’re in fucking danger.” 

Max shook her head unwaveringly, “Could you just go into another store and get me some water?” 

Chloe rubbed Max’s head as she stood up, “Sure. I’ll see what I can find in that shop over there.” 

**

The camera crew took this time to ask Max about her thoughts again while the three of them sat in the sand.

“Why couldn’t they have lived in Canada? Canada is beautiful during this time of year…” Max said, pinching between her eyes. “This adventure definitely takes third place on my leader board of worst adventures ever. Yeah, only third place. First place is obviously the adventure where Arcadia Bay was wiped out by a tornado. Second place goes to the time where Chloe and I went skiing in Vancouver- so you know...maybe it’s a good thing we aren’t going to Canada right now, Mexico still has time to get better.” Max explained. 

The camera guy said something.

“Oh, I lost Chloe in the mountains for a whole day. Do you know how scary that is? She just went  **_zooooom_ ** right down the mountain and it took a team of seven to find her. We found her with one ski and her scarf tied around her head...why did she put her scarf around her head? I’ll never know.”

**

After what felt like an eternity, Chloe came jogging back holding a bag full of things. She kneeled down in the sand with Max and started pulling things out left and right. “Okay! I got you some water- and some Gatorade, because variety is important and enzymes or something?? I also bought some ice. And ice is pretty fucking expensive, so if Sean charges more than two hundred dollars when he fixes my truck, we might just need to scoot out of here without paying, and that is a  **really** shitty thing to do to family.” 

“Chloe...you’re not family. Stop saying that you are.” Max said, squinting her eyes, feeling very confused. Max also did not hesitate to grab that cool blue Gatorade and the entire bag of ice. 

“Fine okay. I also bought us some twinky looking things because the package had a cute duck on it, and some cool donuts because the package had a neat bear dude with a chef hat.” Chloe explained, plunking the bags of snacks down in the dirt. “Maybe Sean and Daniel will accept these as gifts?” 

It was however, too late for those snacks to be considered gifts. Max had already broken into the bags and was shoving these snacks into her mouth. It was a very surprising thing for her to do considering she just threw up a few meters away from where they were sitting. 

Max genuinely moaned, “Chloe these are so good. I have never been more thankful for food and ice in my life.” She said with the bag of ice pressed against her forehead. 

“Funny. I said the same thing after you first got me food after being stranded in the Vancouver mountains for a whole day. I survived off of only pine-flavored ice for nine hours. I know I tell that story a lot, but the older I get the more I realize...man I am really good at surviving.” 

Max looked deadpanned into the camera, “Sure you are, Chloe.” 

“I also got you this car air freshener. I thought it might help you smell a bit better. I know how much you want to make a decent impression on these guys.” 

She smiled. Chloe may have been a dumb-ass, but she really cared and was super innovative. Max happily took the car air freshener from Chloe and dabbed it around her neck and armpits. It was more of a placebo effect kind of thing, but it made Max feel better. Max tried to go in for a kiss but Chloe wasn’t interested in kissing Ms. Pukey Caulfield.

Chloe helped Max drop ice cubes in her bra and by the time they finished resting up and munching their new snacks it was far enough past five pm. It was now time to try introducing themselves. Max wanted to throw up again.


	4. Yeet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls have finally reached the Diaz Repair Shop and they are ready to explain their situation. Sean and Daniel are, to say the least, confused.

They went to the backdoor and fumbled around like idiots trying to decide if the back door was the best way to go. No one would see them if they used the backdoor...but also the boys might get nervous seeing two strangers at their private door. Was their back door really a private door? They didn’t know. Both Max and Chloe were nervous enough that surely they wouldn’t seem like a threat if they showed up at the back door.

Max stood on the cement deck in the back while Chloe held onto her shoulders like a proud dad. She took her mousy fist and knocked on the door. Max didn’t hear or see any movement inside, so she knocked again a little bit louder. Still there was nothing. 

With fear in her eyes, Max looked back at Chloe, “Welp, guess we can just go back home now.” 

But Chloe stopped her, and Chloe knocked instead. She knocked with FORCE. 

From inside the house they could hear faint Spanish words they didn’t understand, ‘ _ Hold on. I'm almost there _ ’ and a man coming from around the doorway. Max could’ve shat herself the second the door opened. 

“ _ What do you want? _ ” Sean asked with a big fat frown on his face, noticing the camera right away. He hid his face. 

Max and Chloe both looked at each other, and Chloe nudged Max to speak up. “HI. Uhh we uh...we know your mom- kinda. My name is M-max Caulfield.” 

“And I’m Chloe Price.” Chloe said shooting one of her classic finger guns and doing a little *click click* thing with her mouth. 

“We uhm we uhh…” Max stumbled to say. Sean just stared at them in silence. 

“You look a little big to be ten years old, man? I feel like I might have misunderstood something? You must be Sean, the sixteen year old. You look a bit big for sixteen too though...” Chloe said. She then received a kick in the shin by Max.

“What are you guys here for? Did something happen to Karen?” Sean asked, concerned. 

“No, no! Nothing like that we just uh...we’re kind of looking for Daniel...is he...is he here?” Max asked with a shaky voice. 

“Uhh...what do you need?” He asked, casually sliding the door a bit more closed. 

“Our truck hit a rock. We need someone to fix it.” Chloe said confidently. 

Sean forced a smile, “Ah well, I’m closed for the day. Try again tomorrow. Goodnight.” He said, trying to squeeze in through the sliver of space left open between the wall and the door, keeping a close eye on the camera as he scraped his shoulders on the wall.

Max stepped forward, “Wait! No! We have some things to say!” 

Sean was not taking any chances though, he just shrugged and slid into his house, and closed the door. However, the knocking didn’t stop, and the girls could see him standing in the garage through the door’s window. Frustrated and scared, he quickly opened the door again because he didn’t want Daniel to hear all the commotion from upstairs. 

“I said that we’re closed. I don’t care about what you guys have to say-” He stated, getting ready to slam the door in their faces again.

Chloe stuck her foot in the door gap, “Listen, I know Max sounds like a bumbling idiot right now, but she is really nervous about saying all this. Give her just a minute to get it all out.”

Max took a deep breath, “Daniel isn’t the only nickel David has- wait fuck no! Daniel isn’t the only David- SHit wait hang on….Daniel isn’t the only one with a power. I have one too, David just told us about him.” She finally managed to say.

Sean looked intently at the ground as the camera zoomed in on his face. This was a very big invasion of privacy. “Uh...and what am I supposed to do about this?” 

Suddenly Daniel came down the stairs cautiously. Sean turned around to face him. 

“Sean...what’s going on?” Daniel asked. 

“Daniel go back upstairs, it’s nothing,” Sean said, reassuringly. He turned to face the girls, “they were just leaving.” 

Max did not like that! She grabbed onto the wooden door before Sean could fully close it and she tried to yank it open. It was honestly the most chaotic meeting ever. 

Daniel did not take this whole situation well and he perceived MAXINE CAULFIELD as a THREAT. With one big swoop of his hand, Daniel yeeted both Max and Chloe out the door and into the sand in the backyard. 

“ _ Daniel, what the hell?! _ ” Sean yelled, putting his fingers on his temples as he stared at the girls.

“ _ Sorry...I thought they were bad...are they not bad?? _ ” Daniel asked in panic.

Sean whipped his head around to face Daniel, and he furrowed his eyebrows, “You can’t just toss people around for no reason, man. You do realize I can throw a punch here and there right? Not every problem needs to be solved by you throwing people around like their fucking salmon at the market.” He said, smacking his fist against his palm to get his point across, “¡Estúpido!” 

Daniel stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry at Sean. They both walked outside to check on Max and Chloe. The girls laid in the sand groaning and holding themselves.

Sean reached down with both his hands to help drag Max and Chloe up. “I am so sorry about that. Sometimes Daniel gets a little bit ahead of himself. We’ve had a long day.”

Now that everything that could’ve possibly went wrong, went wrong, Max felt a little bit better. Their car broke down, she threw up, she acted like an absolute idiot in front of everyone, Chloe acted like an absolute ass in front of everyone, and they got yeeted out of the house by Daniel. Surely nothing else could go wrong. 

Max thanked Sean for helping her up and she tried to explain again what she was doing, and who she was. It took forever. “I know this is kinda hard to believe, but I have a power just like you, Daniel.”

Daniel scrunched his face up, “Uhh…”

“Just go inside Daniel, they’re clearly not well in the head.” Sean said.

As soon as Daniel turned around to go back inside, Chloe butt in, “Hang on wait-” Everyone proceeded to wait for Chloe’s important message. “Is he the ten year old? He also looks a bit big to be ten?”

“I’m sixteen…” Daniel replied.

Chloe looked shocked as she eyed Sean up and down, “And you’re telling me that he’s supposed to be the ten year old?!”

“He’s twenty one.” Daniel said. 

“I’m twenty two.” Sean corrected. 

Max looked into the camera, she had to rewind that shit.

“Just go inside Daniel, they’re clearly not well in the head.” Sean said.

Quickly, Max threw her hand over Chloe’s mouth before she could speak. “Wait, Daniel. It sounds crazy, but you need to trust me! Tell me a few personal things about yourself that no one would really know except for you and your brother.” 

Daniel looked towards his brother for approval. Daniel, being Daniel, would never pass up a chance to spill all of his beans; he loved talking about his beans. Sean threw his hands in the air and paced backwards. “Okay well...for Christmas six years ago...Sean got me a polar bear in a garden chair and it sits in our office on the window ledge. I had a dog named Mushroom once, and Sean says we can never have a dog again because of her, even though I  **really** want one. And…” Daniel looked at the camera and then away really quickly, as if he was debating saying this next one. “okay, this is kinda wacky and Sean doesn’t know yet, but I seriously gotta get this out there: one night Sean came home from the bar with a random dude and I haven’t felt the same since I saw what I saw.” He said, smiling sheepishly at Sean.

Everyone looked at Daniel star-struck. 

“Dude what the fuck?!” Sean groaned. “You can’t just say shit like that to people! Especially when there's a  **freaking** camera around!” He covered his face with his hands and sighed, “ _ I want to die….god… _ ”

Max did her thing, and she really didn’t like what she was going to need to say. 

“Just go inside Daniel, they’re clearly not well in the head.” Sean said.

“Daniel! I’m gonna tell you some really specific things about yourself okay?” 

“What??” Everyone said at once. 

With no context Max just started spewing shit. She looked accurate to Sean’s description of them, but she did what she had to do, “For christmas six years ago Sean got you a polar bear in a garden chair and it sits on your office window ledge. You had a dog named Mushroom once and Sean never wants to get a dog again. And well-” Max looked at the camera and chewed her lips, “and...well...one night Sean came home from a bar with a random guy and you really needed to tell someone about that, Daniel.” She said, mumbling that last part.

Everyone’s jaw dropped, especially Sean’s. 

“How did you know that last one?! I never told anyone that!!” Daniel exclaimed, as a slightly scared, slightly excited smile appeared on his face. “I didn’t even tell Sean that I knew?!”

“Seriously, I can reverse time. We came here because David told us that you had a strange, unexplained power too. I wanted to finally be able to relate to someone.” Max explained. 

In a big mess of excitement Daniel asked her if she could tell him more random and specific things about himself, Sean told him to stop talking, but Daniel just spilled all his beans right then and there, and Max rewound time. 

“Your birthday is April eleventh, you like the colors red and blue- equally, you dropped out of school last year to work in the garage, your dad really liked the Lord of The Rings trilogy, and one time you scared Sean while he was shitting in the woods and he fell in it.”

The camera zoomed on Chloe making an ooh face.

Daniel started laughing his ass off! Sean however was not very pleased by all this. 

“That was so sick!! Max you’re almost like an actual mind-reader! Do you wanna see my power?!” Daniel asked her, gesturing for her to come inside the house with him..

“Of course! Just don’t throw me out of your house this time.” Max chuckled as she skipped off into the house with Danny.

Now it was just Sean and Chloe together. They stood awkwardly in the doorway and watched Max nearly lose her head to a baseball being whipped at her. Despite that, Max bounced around happily as Daniel made a bunch of things around her levitate.

Chloe looked at Sean and tilted her head, “That's a pretty cool eye you got there…what's the story?” 

Sean crossed his arms, “Worked on a pot farm back in 2017 and Daniel blew the place up. Long story short here I am with one eye.” 

“Wish I worked on a pot farm.” Chloe nodded approvingly, “Dope story. Knowing someone with powers is pretty scary. Do you know how many times I should’ve died but didn’t? There are like hundreds of alternate realities where I got shot multiple times. If it weren’t for Max I would’ve been dead in this reality too, and I wouldn’t be standing here right now.”

“Yeah...” Sean started, “I don’t know how to feel about that last part.”

Chloe gave him a little nudge on the shoulder, “I’m really sorry we came in here like this. David and Karen explained to us how hard you and your brother have worked to keep yourselves safe after everything. I just know that Max needed something like this, and someone to relate to.”

“I get it. Daniel gets pretty bored talking to me about his power, I can’t relate to him about it so he just ends up feeling like an outcast. Not to mention he needs to use it as sort of a weapon now. Maybe if they talk to each other they won’t feel so weird.” 

“Powers are wack. They are secret weapons. You saw what Max did, she spilled ALL your beans man- I didn’t need to know about the things in the woods! Yet here I am. I now know that you have in fact fell in your own-”

Sean had to stop her right there, “I get it. You don’t need to repeat.” They both laughed awkwardly. “You know, I always kinda wished I had his power, but after seeing what it’s like to handle and make decisions with it…”

“it's kinda hard to keep wanting it right? I feel that man. I would’ve killed to have Max’s power, but she has seen some shit while messing with time. It’s funny how things could be so different if one little decision was changed.” Chloe said. They finally sat down in the chairs on the deck, somehow they both forgot about the camera crew, but then again these guys do be pretty sneaky-sneaky I will tell you that one for free. 

They talked for such a long time, Sean brought drinks out and everything. It was so crazy how Chloe went from getting the door slammed in her face to sitting and having drinks with some random guy who only had one eye. Life is Strange like that.

“If I could go back in time and stop my dad from getting shot...I think I’d do it.” 

Chloe frowned, “I hate that I know this but, Max and I thought the same thing about my dad. She told me that she tried to go back once and save him. He may have survived, but out there in the universe there is a reality where I was the one who suffered, and I suffered for a long time- it wasn’t a quick death like dad.” Chloe explained slowly. “Maybe things are supposed to be the way they are. I’m not saying that...you know…you’re dad deserved what he got...I’m just saying that sometimes the universe just says fuck you, and the only way to counteract that is to say fuck you right back to the universe- and that my friend, is why I am still alive.” 

“Guess I never thought of it that way.” Sean mumbled, taking a pack of cigarettes out of his back pocket. He took out his dad’s old lighter and lit it up.“Want one?” 

Chloe rubbed her grubby, little hands together and did a chair wiggle, “Don’t mind if I do! Way too much emotion for one night.” 

From the chairs on the deck they watched as Daniel and Max talked inside about god knows what. The sun set over the ocean water and everything was quiet and lovely. This adventure was definitely going on Chloe’s list of most awesome adventures ever. Turns out Sean was actually emotional support for her, and Daniel was a distraction for Max. 

“That's a cool tattoo. What is it exactly?” Sean asked. 

“Well, it used to be a skull and some flowers and vines- you know, a colourful decision I made when I was a teen. But after the tornado wiped out Arcadia Bay all those years ago...I didn’t feel like it fit me anymore. So I got it drawn over with a tornado, but...ehh- it kinda just looks like scribbles.” Chloe slumped down in her chair and put her hands behind her head, “Kinda stupid but with all the trouble Daniel has probably caused with his power- at least he didn’t wipe out an entire city with a tornado.”

They sat in silence for a few moments after Chloe told that little joke.

Sean blinked his eyes really hard a few times, “It's pretty cool how you mentioned Arcadia Bay. A few days after my dad died I remember passing by that place and just feeling connected to the whole mess of it. I was so young and scared back then...it was shit.” He said, taking another smoke and shaking it off. 

“Damn man...that's sad as hell. Arcadia Bay really does suck the life out of you.” She said, blowing a big cloud of smoke out. “I feel like I need some good news after that one. Hit me with something. Literally anything! We need a good vibe!”

Sean thought for a moment and then laughed lightly, “Well, right now I feel like I can tell you anything, Chloe Price…” He started, squirming around in his seat. “I guess I’ll out myself right now. Remember what Daniel said earlier about that random bar guy and how he’s scarred for life now..?”

A smile crept onto Chloe’s face, “Ahhhh fuck yeah man!” 

Sean nodded, “Yeah...he’s been back a few times- not like that though, he’s just been around again for…” A wiggly worm he was, Sean paused, “car stuff I guess.”

Chloe kicked her legs up into the air, “No way man! That’s crazy...that is absolutely wild. Get it on my guy!”

“God this is so embarrassing, why am I telling you all this?!” Sean groaned while trying not to laugh and cry at the same time. "I hardly know you."

“I’m Chloe fucking Price dude- that's why your telling me! This is the least embarrassing stuff ever. If I were you I would still be worried about me knowing about the shit in the woods.” Chloe said, winking. “As a veteran gay myself I fully invite you to spill all your beans about this mystery guy.” 

Sean looked at her with an expression of pain...maybe? “Some secrets gotta stay secrets. I’m sorry. It's cool though; being able to talk to someone about this stuff. Daniel hates talking about dating and stuff.” 

“No worries, dating people is weird. Earlier today I was helping Max put ice in her bra.” 

Sean looked surprised but that quickly faded, “Oh, I should’ve realized you and Max were a thing. Duh. Be careful with her and Daniel though, Daniel has a way of wooing older women. My old best friend, Lyla, was obsessed with him. People think he’s adorable, but he’s just a little fart.” 

“Permission to call him a little fart?”

“Go for it.”

**

Sean went inside to grab another round of beers, and Chloe sat alone.

“I’ve known him for about five hours and I would die for him. Yes I am slightly intoxicated, but that doesn’t matter. Sean and I are the same person on the inside and I have no doubt about that.”

**


	5. Drunk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While talking about their feelings, Sean and Chloe get a little bit too carried away with drinking and leave quite the conundrum from Max and Daniel to deal with.

The sun had fully set now and it was fairly late in the night. Sean and Chloe stayed outside talking and crying the whole time, while Max and Daniel stayed inside and told each other all the epic things they did with their powers. Finally, Max and Daniel came bouncing out of the house to greet their respective person.

“Sean! Sean, guess what?! Whoa...Sean?” Daniel started, his excitement slowly fading as he came to a halt in the doorway.

The camera panned over to Sean and Chloe, both were sitting like jello in their deck chairs with dark circles under their eyes and tear stains galore. They each polished off a whole pack of beer and smelled like hot ass. 

“Jesus Christ, Chloe! What happened?” Max asked, running over to Chloe and pressing Chloe’s head to her chest. 

“Fucking therapy man!” Chloe cried, and that made Sean cry. 

Daniel stood in the back with a look of discomfort on his face as he slowly approached the scene and started to clean up their mess. He tossed all the empty cans into a trash bag and went over to check if Sean was okay. 

“Chloe, I think it’s time for us to go back to the truck and get some sleep.” Max said, trying to pull Chloe up from the chair. Chloe would not move.

Sean waved his arm, “Arg- no way! You guys aren’t gonna sleep out there, you can stay here for the night.” He said, drunk and sad. 

“Really? You mean it?” Chloe asked, also drunk and sad. Sean nodded. Chloe leaned over in her chair and gave him a sloppy hug, and slurring an incoherent, and very emotional thanks. Max was, to say the least, confused. 

“I guess you guys can share the couch?” Daniel said. 

Max looked at him with desperation in her eyes and whispered, “Please don’t make me sleep next to her...not like this.”

Daniel understood and said, “We’ll leave them both in Sean’s room and hope for the best.”

Just then Chloe triumphantly stood up from her chair and staggered around the cement part of the backyard, “Max we gotta get our bags from the car- we gotta get the shit!” 

“I’ll can fuckin drive!” Sean said, slipping out of his chair and turning into a pile of mush on the ground. 

“No way, Sean. You’re gonna kill yourself!” Daniel said, picking his brother up from under his arms. “I can’t believe I’m the one who needs to look after you. I hate it so much when you get like this.” 

At this point Sean was like dead weight and Max had to come over and help Daniel carry him to his feet. How the hell were they gonna get him up the stairs? Max called Chloe over like the little puppy she was and the three of them managed to get Sean into the house. It took them a considerable amount of time to carry him up the stairs, and Chloe was no help at all. All she did was stand at the bottom of the stairs chanting, ‘You’re almost there!’ after every step they advanced. The camera crew did nothing.

Somehow through all this, Sean was completely out of it. Max and Daniel just tossed him onto his bed and he didn’t make another sound. Daniel set up a couple of blankets and pillows on the floor across the room for Chloe to sleep on, but Chloe was a defiant little fucker and she would not lay down. Max and Daniel had to stand and wait in the doorway until she finally gave in and decided to fall asleep sitting up. 

Max sighed, “This is why I only ever have one beer.”

The two of them left the room and Daniel helped Max set up the couch in the living room. Max felt pretty anxious knowing that she would be sleeping alone and needed to rely solely on a sixteen year old she just met for any help.

“Do you still need to go to your truck and get things?” Daniel asked. “I can drive you there.” 

Max didn’t want to be rude so she said, “No. I’m good.”

**

“It would be really nice to have my own blanket and pillow...and my Switch...and maybe a book, oh and I wanna brush my teeth.” Max said nervously. She was spiraling. 

**

Max knocked on Daniel's door a little while later, “Actually…”

No sooner than that, they were already sitting in Karen’s old van and Daniel was getting ready to drive it to the truck. Max had cramps in her stomach thinking about what kind of state the truck would be in when they got there. Also driving at night alone with a sixteen year old in the desert was scary. 

Daniel turned around to face the camera in the back seat,“Sean doesn’t normally let me drive this thing. He doesn’t normally let me drive at all.” Daniel said, adjusting the dirty mirrors in the van. 

Max crossed her legs nervously and held on to her seat belt, “Oh...wow. So is this your first time driving?” 

“Don’t worry though; I can drive good. When Sean is busy in the shop I sometimes steal the car and practice by myself,” Daniel explained in a very Daniel sort of way, “but legally I cannot drive.”

Max nodded quickly and held her breath as the engine started. Luckily the roads were dead at night and there was no one around to hit. Max showed him where to drive to find the truck, and it, thankfully, was still there when they reached it. Her legs quaked as she hopped out of the van and walked to the truck. Everything was still inside and the engine didn’t blow up while they were away. That was good. Max opened the car door and grabbed literally everything she could, and she put it all in the van. 

While she was doing this Daniel had opened the hood of the truck and was holding a flashlight inside. She guessed he remembered when he told her that they smashed into a rock.

“Do you know anything about cars?” Max asked, holding her pillow against her chest.

Daniel replied with, “Nah. I don’t know anything about cars. This is Sean’s business, I just make jokes to the customers in broken Spanish. In my opinion, the engine looks perfect!”

Max laughed awkwardly, “What else do you do while your brother is working? It must get pretty boring just watching him.”

Daniel thought, “Well, sometimes I play guitar for people, but it sounds super bad and people complain. I have made a few scams though.” 

Max smiled sympathetically, “Awe, I’m sure you don’t play that bad.” 

Inside information: Daniel was not kidding when he said he was bad. He sounds like Jake Paralta playing his hit single “AHHHH” in the interrogation room. Brooklyn Nine Nine, Season One, Episode Seven.

The two of them got back in the van after transferring everything from the truck. Max felt a lot better knowing that all her items were going to be safe in the Diaz house for the night. She took out her switch and checked its battery: a big fat fully charged bitch.

“Sorry I threw you out of the door earlier. We don’t get a lot of nice visitors. Most of the time we get people who try to steal things from the shop cuz there's some expensive stuff in there, and sometimes dealers can be pretty scary too. We get all sorts of fun dudes coming by!” 

Max sighed, “Tell me about it. Chloe always seems to have a dealer on her ass. When we get back to California there's gonna be some pretty pissed people waiting..”

“I wish I could go back to California sometimes...Sean and I knew a bunch of people there and who knows- they might still be there.” Daniel said, also I need to mention that he drives with both hands on the wheel and his back never touches the seat. He is very rigid. “They probably aren’t still there though.”

Max was awkward.

“I also wish I could go back to Oregon and see my old friend Chris. I haven’t talked to him in years! We used to like going on superhero adventures and playing with all his Power Bear action figures. Don’t laugh- but I still have a Power Bear toy Sean won at a claw machine a long time ago.” Daniel said, “Also...Hawt Dog man is still pretty cool.” 

“Aw, I used to have a few Power Bear toys when I was younger. Chloe and I would play with them sometimes, but we were more into pirates.” Max explained, as they approached the home again. “Hawt Dog man was a classic though- that's for sure.” 

They got out of the van and Daniel helped Max carry everything upstairs before he went to go look at the drunks. Max fluffed up her pillow on the couch and quickly changed into some fresher clothing . She then wrapped herself in her blanket and sat down in a little ball on the couch.

Daniel came back into the living room and looked at Max all cozy on the couch. He scratched his face, “Guess I’ll go to bed now.” He said, sounding unsure of himself. “If you need anything- I guess I’m the host now?”

**

All the lights were off in the living room and Max was the queen of the couch. The light from the moon reflected off of the water and shone through the curtains. Also, don’t ask where the camera crew sleeps…(it’s the bathtub.)

“Today was so crazy!” Max whispered. “I have spent the last NINE years thinking that I was the only person in the entire world with a weird, unexplained power like this. Talking to Daniel about this was just...wow...it was wow. He is so cool! Literally- the coolest kid I have ever met in my life. Honestly, you shouldn’t even be interviewing me right now, you should be interviewing him because WOW! I don’t even care that Chloe is wasted right now because I had such a good night. I think it’s safe to say that this is now the seventh worst adventure I’ve ever been on.” 

The camera man said something.

“Yeah seventh. I’m very anxious to be here right now in a strangers house. I know I was just talking about how cool Daniel was a few seconds ago but trouble just seems to follow Chloe and I.”

**

She tried to lay down and close her eyes for ages, but she just couldn’t fall asleep. She tried listening to some music on her phone to fall asleep but the darn thing died on her. Frustrated, Max sat up on the couch and grabbed her Switch from her bag and turned on some nice, peaceful Stardew Valley.

The silence in the house was broken when quiet footsteps began to tip-toe into the kitchen. Max panicked and quickly turned the lamp beside the couch on. It was Daniel. Of course it was Daniel. Who else would it be? They both made awkward eye contact for a really long time before anyone talked. Daniel waved to the camera crew sitting at the kitchen table. 

“I couldn’t sleep and I got hungry. I thought you’d be asleep by now.” Daniel said guiltily. 

Max gave him a thumbs up. “S’all cool bud, get a snack.” 

Daniel proceeded to open the fridge and grab a pudding cup. Max didn’t know what to do? Was she supposed to talk to him? Or just let him do his thing? Things were all fine and dandy earlier when all they talked about was their powers because Max knew everything about her own power, and it was cool hearing Daniel talk about his. The last teen boy she talked to was Warren Graham and Warren was weird as fuck. 

To Max’s dismay, Daniel came over and sat cross legged in the armchair near her. He just munched on his pudding cup. “Is that a Nintendo Switch? I’ve seen those things on TV before.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty old now.” Max replied. “I don’t really have a lot of games.” 

“Sean and I only have a Playbox. He says that new video games are too expensive to buy and ‘we need to spend our money on more important things’ but that's just a load of bullshit cuz he just goes and spends that money on weed and booze.” Daniel said bluntly.

Max’s mouth formed and O, “Damn, shots fired.” 

“Sorry- sometimes I can’t tell if I should say things or not, but then my brain makes me say them anyway.” He said, finishing his pudding cup and placing the empty container in the pile of mess on the coffee table. “What’chu playing?” 

“Stardew Valley...it’s a farming game.” Max explained.

“oOooH! Can I see?!” Daniel said, like Daniel. “I haven’t seen any games on that thing yet. It seems so cool!” 

Max was startled but excited, “Oh- sure.” she said, and Daniel plopped over on the couch. “Do you wanna try playing it?” 

Daniel looked at her, absolutely stunned, “For real? YeAh! Gimme!!” 

He was so happy when Max let him hold onto it and move the sticks around, his happiness was contagious. She explained to him what he had to do to move around and break things, and she showed him how to get to her favorite npc. It was really sweet. They decided to prop the switch up on the coffee table so it could be like a mini TV and they could both see good. They played Super Smash Bros and Mario Party for hours after that with the two controllers. It was really hard for them to stay quiet, but it's not like Sean or Chloe were going to be waking up for a while…(While going up the stairs they may or may not have hit Sean’s head on the walls a few times.)

As the hours of the night went on, they each ended up leaning over on their own side of the couch and falling asleep. It was kinda squishy, but Max was good at sleeping all curled up in a little ball after spending many nights sleeping with Chloe, who slept like a starfish.


	6. The Next Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group wakes up the next morning and evaluate Chloe's truck. It is a nightmare! During the work day, the shop gets a surprise visitor.

Max was woken up by the sound of hurling in the toilet. She shot up right away and looked around the room; it looked so different in the morning and it took her a second to remember where she was. Daniel was still asleep on the couch opposite to her, and their controllers had fallen on the floor. The vomiting in the bathroom sounded  **bad.**

It was like amnesia; her brain struggled to remember what happened the day before and why two guys were standing outside the bathroom door looking absolutely mortified. She placed her feet on the floor and stretched, her movement woke Daniel up. He rubbed his eyes confused as well. 

Just then, Chloe trudged out of the bathroom looking pretty rough. She leaned her forehead on the wall and held herself up, not sure if she was gonna puke again. "Morning fam. Gotta say- I'm not feeling too good right now." The camera zoomed in on Chloe’s pale face.

"Yeah I figured…" Max mumbled sleepily. 

"Glad to see you two got along last night. Sean was right; Daniel does be swindling the older women. I might just have to ask you to take a step away from my lady, Dan." Chloe said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Max and Daniel looked at each other really confused, and then they looked at Chloe, and then Sean came out of his room and everyone looked at him. He also looked pretty rough, but I mean at this point all four of them looked nasty. 

"Ugh I feel like I'm gonna die." Sean said walking into the kitchen, and Chloe held up a pretty rad peace sign and said 'same'.

In the cupboards, Sean pulled out a jar of some unknown substance and took a pinch of it and put it in a coffee cup. Chloe watched, intrigued by the things he was putting in. He filled the cup with water and out a few other things in and mixed it all together. His face scrunched up as he took a sip and he held onto the counter while trying to swallow it. 

This made Chloe very interested, "What's that? Is it the anti puke juice?" 

Sean handed her the cup, "It helps with the head ache. Try it, but be careful."

Like a dumb-ass, Chloe took a confident sip from the cup. Everyone watched as she spun around and spat the 'anti puke juice' into the sink. "Jesus christ that tastes like actual shit. At this point I'll take the head ache."

Daniel finally stood up and walked towards the stairs, "Looks like it's hose time boyz!" Hose time was Daniel’s favorite time. 

“What’s hose time?” Max asked.

Everyone went outside and Daniel positioned Sean, Max, and Chloe in a line. Max was unsure why she was being involved in hose time, but Daniel said that it would be fun. Both girls watched as lil D spun around in circles to unwrap the hose, and Sean ushered everyone to stand with their arms out and brace themselves. 

Because of his power, Daniel was able to greatly increase the water pressure from the hose. Cold water shot out of the hose rapidly and sprayed everyone Daniel pointed at. With a semi-sadistic smile on his face, he closed in on the three of them and drenched them in super cold water. 

Chloe, the drama queen, knocked into both Sean and Max while she was fumbling around with her eyes closed and everyone fell over. Daniel laughed as their shouts filled the air and they begged him to stop spraying them, but Daniel was a ruthless hose master and would NEVER back down! MWAHAHA. It was safe to say that everyone was awake now and slightly less hung over. Slightly. 

The hose plan sort of backfired because now everyone was covered in wet sand and Sean was not impressed by this. When Daniel finally stopped spraying them, Sean stood up, took the hose straight from his hands, and shoved it right down Daniel’s pants. Daniel flipped the fuck out and unintentionally threw both himself and Sean in opposite directions. It was the most chaotic ten seconds of action Max and Chloe had ever witnessed, but it was thoroughly enjoyable. Now everyone was covered in wet sand. 

After everyone calmed down they all had to rinse off individually because group bathing was clearly not their thing. It was now breakfast time and they all went inside sopping wet. Sean made everyone pancakes as per Chloe's request. She didn’t get to enjoy Karen’s pancakes the other morning because her and Max had to leave too early, so she asked if Sean had ‘the pancake gene?’ Sean said that he could make pancakes, and he proceeded to put four frozen pancakes into the toaster. That was that; the gang each had a singular toaster pancake for breakfast. 

Once breakfast was finished (it was very quick) it was legit shower time for everyone. It sucked having only one shower for four people to use, but everyone except Daniel smelt like roadkill. Max went first because she needed to clean off yesterday’s filth with some soap. Chloe went second and had a wonderful time smelling every single soap bottle in the bathroom. Out of all the soaps to choose, she was most drawn to the ominous Dawn Dish Detergent bottle, so she came out of the bathroom fifteen minutes later smelling like one of them ducks in the commercials. Sean had to explain to her that he only used that when he was covered in oil from the cars, and she replied with, ‘Probably shouldn’t have washed my hair with that stuff then?’ Everyone agreed that she should not have done that. 

They walked to the destination of the truck so Sean, the actual mechanic, could take a look and see what was wrong. Everyone gathered around the hood and waited with baited breath as he opened the hood. 

His hand covered his mouth when he saw what was inside. The entire engine was crushed and mangled, “¡Dios mío!”

Chloe poked her head into the scene of the crime that was clearly committed against this poor engine, “What? Is it really broken?”

Sean nodded vigorously, “What the hell did you guys do?! Looks like Hulk beat this thing...” 

“We crashed it into a rock...I know- I’m sorry. We didn’t see the slightly smaller rock before the big rock and things got a little out of hand.'' Max explained feeling super guilty. “Do you think it’s fixable?” 

“Gahhh...I don’t know?” Sean said, flabbergasted. “I’ve never seen an engine like this before? How old is this thing?” 

Chloe placed her hands on her hips all proud, “Fixed it up myself after finding it in a junkyard thirteen years ago. I know- I know, I myself am quite the machine junkie. I just put together a bunch of shit I found lying around and- BOOM! I got a free truck. Only God knows how long that thing had been sitting by its lonesome before I came along and salvaged it.” 

Sean smacked his palm against his forehead. He was never gonna be able to fix up this ‘monster of Frankenstein’ looking truck. “I have never fixed  **_anything_ ** this awful before...and I’ve fixed a truck that broke because of a family of crispy, dead lizards. This is going to take ages to repair, guys.” 

Max looked at him with concern, “How are we gonna get home? This is our only way home! You have to be able to fix it.” Chloe held her back from acting like a ‘can I speak to your manager’ kind of person.

“Listen, I can only do so much in a day- plus I have other customers to help.” he explained calmly. 

Chloe interjected, “I can totally help!” She took a second to think about everything wrong with what she just said, “Look, I know I built this super shitty truck that looks like the scraps of garbage in the movie Wall-E, but that was thirteen years ago and I know a lot more now. I know enough about vehicles to be able to help people with little problems, right? Maybe I could help you run the shop when you’re busy fixing this thing? It’ll get us out of your way a lot faster than if you were doing everything by yourself.” She suggested.

The camera zoomed in on Sean’s face and he sighed, “You know what- fine. It might actually help to have someone else working with me.”

“Oh yeah, epic!” Chloe said cooly. “I won’t even ask for a paycheck!”

“...You weren't getting a paycheck…” 

It was now time for them to figure out how to get the truck back home a mile away. Sean ran a ‘bring your own tow-truck’ kind of business, and that might have been a business mistake. Daniel may have been very strong when using his power, but that was only in small amounts. To gently focus his power and carry a heavy vehicle for about an hour would've been way too much strain. So everyone needed to push, and Daniel stood behind them to give the truck a little push as a treat now and again. They looked totally inconspicuous. 

When they safely got the truck settled in the garage everyone (except Daniel) was whooped and sweaty, making the showers earlier almost completely pointless. By now it was about lunch time so Sean got some pre-made sandwiches out of the mini fridge behind the counter at the cash.

Max and Chloe sat together in some plastic chairs off to the side of the cash register, and the camera crew sat in the chairs opposite to them, Sean stood behind the counter, and Daniel disappeared into the backroom and wasn’t heard from again. They all munched those week old sandwiches like as if Gordon Ramsay made them himself with the finest lamb sauce. Food hit differently when you had just been pushing a car for a mile in crazy heat and had only one pancake for breakfast. Max grabbed a book from her backpack and her earbuds, and Chloe decided to make some conversation with Sean while they all relaxed.

“How long have you been mechanicing?” She asked him. 

He seemed a little put off by the question, “Since we got here pretty much. Not much else I could do to make money.”

“Tight.” Chloe replied. “Have you always wanted to do this stuff? It’s pretty sick.” 

“Not at all. This was dad’s dream for me...I just wanted to be an artist and draw shit.” 

It was like she was asking all the wrong things. “You draw? How about you draw Max and I? That could be fun, right?” 

**

“Rule number one when talking to an artist: don’t ask them to draw you!!” Sean said later on in the backroom. “Does she not have any common sense?!”

**

Sean gave Chloe a bit of a dirty look but still reached down under the counter and took out a pen and paper. He began to draw the girls and Chloe just chilled while he did that. There was an old radio playing a CD on the shelf behind the counter and everything was chill. Max even had the fan in the room blowing on her so she was perfectly content. 

Chloe grew impatient waiting for him to finish his drawing and she couldn’t help but move around a bit. Being drawn was not her thing. He told her that he was almost done with the sketch and that she would be free to roam in a few minutes. Sean made a comment on how Max was a much better reference model than her and Chloe was offended, so she said that ‘Max’s default speed is the same as a dying snail; she's actually trying to run right now.’ They both found that one funny.

Outside the shop a loud motorcycle pulled up on the side of the road. Chloe watched Sean’s face go from relaxed to complete and utter panic. 

Chloe laughed cautiously, “What...is that someone you know? Do I need to get Max to rewind so we have time to hide somewhere?” 

Sean shook his head and quickly cleaned up the room and threw all their lunch trash onto the floor behind the counter. 

“Dude, are you good?” Chloe asked again, this time more concerned “Do I need to get the little fart from the back? What’s going on?”

“NO! Just act fucking natural. Don’t do anything weird or stupid!” Sean said aggressively, alerting Max of the current situation. He struggled to decide whether or not he should be sitting in his chair or standing up. Sean sure did look natural…

The camera panned over to a man walking in. He had lots of dark hair tied up in a bun, he was rocking a pair of dusty ass jeans, some cool big boy boots, and one of those cool muscle shirts with some non-sponsored pictures of the front. (This is not going on the record, but he had some fine ass arms.) It was like a Greek god (only not Greek because we’re in Mexico- not Greece) walked into the shop. The man took off his sunglasses and gently folded them up in his hand.

Max and Chloe tried to look natural but they were so confused about the mood of this situation?? Was it hostile? What was going on? Max secretly took her ear buds out because she needed to hear what was about to go down. Also important to mention; they couldn't understand anything being said because it was all in Spanish. So when I say they were confused about the mood of this interaction- mhm. The camera crew did all the Spanish to English translations in post. Italics are just subtitles.

Sean could hardly even make eye contact with this, tall, cool, decently attractive dude.  _ “Hey, Damián. What’s up?”  _ He managed to say, keeping his cool, but you could clearly tell Sean was NOT OKAY. 

Damián smiled as he placed a huge roll of cash on the counter,  _ “Just came back to pay for the other day. The motorcycle works well now thanks to you.”  _ He then reached into his back pocket and took out a handful of change,  _ “This is for the other night.”  _ He said, sliding the coins slowly across the counter, right under Sean’s clammy hand.  **HE TOUCHED THE HAND WITHOUT WARNING.**

Somehow, without understanding anything being said, Chloe put two and two together. She didn’t remember much of what her and Sean talked about last night because she did get considerably wasted, but she did remember him mentioning a mystery guy, and she could only assume that this snacc was the guy. She could see it in Sean’s eye. The camera zoomed in on her face and her jaw dropped.

Sean handed the money right back, like a dumb-ass, “ _ Keep that. It was one drink. _ ”

**WEE WOO WEE WOO** Damián put that money right back in his hand, “ _ Maybe you could buy me another drink with it… _ ”

Sean’s expression was pretty bleak, he looked to Chloe in a panic. He needed some telepathic gay advice right about now. “ _ Uh yeah...when? _ ”

“ _ Tomorrow night? Same place around seven?”  _ Damián suggested quietly, grabbing a random box of screws off the wall near the counter to make it look like he was just doing casual shopping at his local mechanic’s shop. Nothing sus going on here…just two bros exchanging money for screws. Wink wonk. 

Sean did the cashier stuff with the box of screws as he nodded in agreement. He had to focus on not shaking. Sean was so focused on staying chill that he didn’t even notice Daniel standing in the doorway behind him looking beyond betrayed. 

While all this was happening Damián noticed the drawing Sean just did and he picked it up to take a closer look. He turned around to face Chloe and compare the two. He was impressed. 

Chloe happily pointed to herself and Max, and said, “That’s us!” 

Damián flashed some nice ass pearly-white teeth, of course, we love a sucker with nice teeth, and said a simple, “Nice.” before turning back around to Sean and placing the drawing back down. “ _ You’ll have to draw me some time. _ ” 

**

Sean muffled a laugh, “Yeah okay...that artist rule doesn’t apply to everyone. Little does he know I’ve already drawn him- many times.” Sean stopped smiling, “Don’t leave that in.”

**

As he walked out he waved to Max and Chloe, and of course they waved back all cheery because they knew that someone scored a ten. He waved at Daniel too, but Daniel didn’t understand why so he just stood there like a grouch. Sean couldn’t wave, Sean had to look away because he wanted to be able to breathe again. When Damián was fully out the door everyone relaxed and waited for Sean’s response. 

“Are these kinds of interactions supposed to make your body go numb?” Sean asked, the camera panning over to him hunched across the counter. 

Max and Chloe both ooed and awed like little school girls while Daniel looked around angrily. 

“Who the fuck was that guy? He’s been in here like four times in the past week?! How bad is he at riding a motorcycle?” Daniel asked, watching the bike drive away from the window. “And why does he want you to draw him? That's so weird…customers can’t just do that.”

Chloe’s eyes widened, “OH Danny, I don’t think that man is a customer hoping to get his car fixed here. I’m pretty sure he’s got this place confused for a strip club, if you catch my drift.” 

Max immediately slapped her head, “Chloe Elizabeth Price you take that back right now! Don’t- fucking talk like that you dip! HE IS A CHILD.” 

It took Daniel a second to get the joke, and when he did get the joke he turned his ass around and went right back into the backroom and slammed the door behind him as he shouted, “AH YUCK!!” 

“Did I do okay? Did I seem normal?” Sean asked, ignoring his brother’s dramatic reaction to the news. 

“I mean, we couldn’t really understand what was going on, but it sounded pretty good to me?” Max said reassuringly, “He obviously likes you enough if he wants you to draw him. He said your drawing was ‘nice’!” 

“Yeah, don’t worry about any of this, Sean. You did totally fine. Not to be straight but- DAMN that was like the coolest person I have ever seen.” 

Max frowned, “I thought I was the coolest person you’ve ever seen?” 

“No...you’re the cutest person I’ve ever seen, Max.” Chloe corrected, giving Max a lil kissy wissy on the nosey wosey uwu.

Right now, Sean was triple whooped. He accomplished so much today, all while being hung over. He pushed a truck a whole mile AND he talked to Damián. That was enough work for the day- the shop was now closed early for business reasons. 

“Dude I can’t believe you’ve already slept with that guy. That’s crazy! How come you were able to keep your composure then but not now? Makes no sense at all?” Chloe questioned. 

“Things were different that night.” (Drunk.) “Damián's been coming into the shop unexpectedly every few days and I don’t know what to do? HE KEEPS FLIRTING AND IT’S MAKING ME LIKE HIM.” He complained...sorta? “What does he mean by ‘maybe you could buy me another drink with that money?’ and ‘Tomorrow at seven?’ WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!” 

The girls looked at each other and then back at Sean, “You got a date man.” They said in unison. 

Sean buried his face in his hands and groaned, his foot started tapping madly on the floor, “I don’t want that. No no no...I can’t be doing that. This was a one night stand a week ago. No more dates! I gotta be at home with Daniel, he hates it when I leave him alone at night! He needs an adult here!”

From in the backroom, Daniel called out, “Yeah right!”

Chloe rolled her eyes cuz that was a fucking lie, “You have two professional babysitters living with you now. You should go out and have some fun! Plus, if things work out between you two in the long run, Damián could be like...your trophy husband or something, and you could flex on everyone when you two go out. Show everyone that you're the boss- right?”

Sean shook his head very fast, “No no...I’m the little bitch.”

Max looked at him shocked, “ _ You’re _ the little bitch?!” 

“Yeah. Me. I’m the little bitch.” He said, sitting down and folding over into his own lap like a broken theater chair. “If that man wanted to own me I don’t think I would be able to say anything about it.” 

Both girls cringed.

Chloe stood up from her seat and walked over to him. She crouched down so that she was at face level with him. “No one with a black glass eye is a little bitch, okay? You are a strong, independent dude,  **okay?** ” 

Sean looked up at Chloe and gave her a puppy dog eye, “No.”

Chloe spoke to him like a wise old mentor, “I know what it’s like to date someone who you think is ten times hotter, smarter, and cooler than you-” 

Max awed in the background, “Really Chloe? That's so sweet.” She gushed. 

Chloe shook her head in secret so that only Sean could see and she mouthed, ‘I’m talking about my ex’. Sean laughed. “And in my experience, it turns out they always think the same shit about you. So you should just go on that date and be yourself because SEAN DIAZ: you are one stinking cool dude.” 

Sean let out a long held sigh, “Okay...I’m gonna go on that date and you guys are gonna watch Daniel, and everything will be fine.” 

“We’ll practice all throughout the day leading up to the date. We’ll make sure you are prepared for anything.” Chloe reassured, giving him a supportive pat on the shoulder.

In the background Daniel poked his head in the door again. The camera zoomed in on his face and he gagged.

**

The camera crew decided to talk to Daniel in the backroom. He was sitting in a swivel chair underneath a Hawt Dog Man poster.

“What are my thoughts on Damián? Well, at first I thought he was just really shit at riding his stupid motorcycle- BUT NOW THAT I KNOW…” Daniel spun his chair around angrily, “oh ho ho ho ho man he better watch his back because I don’t appreciate random people coming into our house- except for Max and Chloe, they’re cool.” 

The camera man said something that made Daniel look a bit lost and hurt.

“Do you know what it’s like to be sitting on the couch watching cartoons at two am and all of a sudden two people come stomping up the stairs, and it’s kinda dark so you can’t exactly see what's going on, but from what you can see it looks like your brother is getting attacked, and your first instinct is to attack the attacker, but upon closer inspection, and by that I mean- you know what I’m not gonna get into that, but I knew what was going on and I realized this wasn’t anything dangerous. It was shocking. Sean had a girlfriend before, last year, she was shit, and this never happened. I didn’t know what to do? Like, what do you even do in that situation?? My room is across the hall from his and he was way too drunk to care, so I couldn’t sleep in my room. I literally had to go downstairs and sleep in the garage. I had to sleep in the GARAGE because of Damián. In. my. Own. Home. Do you know what that's like, huh?” Daniel finished. He was now almost out of the frame because he had slowly been drifting away in his swivel chair the whole time. 

**


	7. Practice Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe sets up a practice date for Sean and finds out that he really didn't need a practice date, he was just emotionally constipated.

After that mess of an interaction was over Max went to go check on Daniel, and Sean and Chloe headed into the garage to take a peek at the truck. At the moment there were no other vehicles in the garage, but on a normal day it could hold about three at a time. Now that the shop was officially closed for the day, Sean didn’t need to worry about anyone else needing help. 

He opened the hood of the truck once again and stared into it; lost. “Do you think you could grab me that flashlight over there?” 

Chloe looked around the room, “You got it boss.” She said, tossing him a flashlight. 

Sean held the flashlight in his mouth and dug around in the truck’s guts like an animal. Chloe scratched her head not knowing what to do with herself. 

“Pretty crazy you closed the whole shop today. Must be nice to run your own business like this and just do whatever.” Chloe said, rocking around on her feet and admiring the garage. 

**

“This is literally the coolest garage I have ever been in!” Chloe said happily, sitting in the swivel chair in the backroom. “Garages to me are like what cute videos of puppies and kittens are to a lot of people: they just fill my soul with happiness.”

**

“Hmpf. Not that easy.” He said, “I’ve got mountains of paperwork to do all the time and I need to always be on top of ordering certain parts for everyone. Plus Daniel is my only employee.” 

You know, as much as Chloe loved this guy already- he could get pretty fucking negative. “Are you gonna need to buy stuff for the truck? I'll help pay for anything.” She said, knowing full well she only had two hundred dollars with her. 

“I don’t even know if I’ll be able to find anything for this? Because of its age I don’t think I can get any new parts, and specific old parts can be really expensive if you can find them in good condition.” 

Chloe rolled her eyes, “Oh come on, if I can fix this baby up with already broken shit lying around a junkyard, I’m sure you could find some parts that work. You gotta know at least one person who has parts.” 

Sean tapped his foot and thought, “I guess I know...a guy.” He said slowly.

Like a dumb-ass, Chloe mistook the mood of this conversation for something other than what it was, “Don’t tell me you have another crush..?” 

“GOD NO. This guy is like forty!” Sean said angrily, taking a seat in one of the plastic chairs near the truck. “He steals and smuggles all sorts of machines and parts and he sells them to whoever offers the most.” He explained. “Like auction stuff but...illegal.”

Chloe looked down at him, impressed, “Damn, and you know this guy because…” 

Sean sighed, getting tired of Chloe in general, “I don’t buy stolen parts. I just know of him because he’s tried to sell to me before- but I said no. Trying to stay out of trouble...” 

“Does this mean that we’re gonna need to meet this guy? Bro, I don’t want you giving into a criminal scheme just for me.” 

“No-no-no, we’re not gonna be going to see him. He’s only there as a last resort, and I’ll probably figure something out before it comes to...that.” He stated firmly. “You might end up with an even junkier truck though…”

Chloe sat down nonchalantly, “Pfft it’s whatever. Ever since thirty minutes ago I’ve actually been wanting to invest in a motorcycle. Max and I would look so hot with one of those.”

This comment made Sean hold his breath. 

“What kind of stuff does Damián do? Is he really as cool as he looks? I feel like he isn’t…” Chloe started, gazing off into the air. “No one who looks that cool is actually cool.” She said, even though she looks super cool. 

“I don’t know that much about him, okay? All I know is that he has a motorcycle, he works at the bar we’re going to, and he's got a dog.” 

Chloe counted on her fingers, “He’s got all three things anyone could ever ask for, transportation, income, and a dog. We should totally start practicing! I’ve been dying to bust out my acting skills.”

“Practicing? Nah- that stuff is stupid.” He said defensively. Sean got up from his chair and started doing...mechanic stuff again to get away from Chloe. “I don’t need to practice for a date.” 

Despite him saying no Chloe went along with her plan anyway. She made her voice all deep and she puffed out her chest, (thank the gods she did not do an accent) “Aye Sean, glad to see you could make it tonight.” The camera zoomed in on Chloe’s face as she winked and did a kissy face.

The camera then spun around to Sean and he blinked, “Yeah we’re not doing this.” 

Chloe’s head fell back and she groaned loudly, “Come on man!! It’ll be fun! What do you expect yourself to do tomorrow night when it’s actually time? Do you just expect yourself to be super cool and confident?”

**

“Yeah. That was exactly what I thought was gonna happen.” Sean said. “But I guess...that strategy never really worked for me. ‘Crazy Texan hillbillies’ don’t really count as actual dating experience and they’re basically just the free trial of dating. Oh- and my last relationship ended in the worst way possible.”

**

“Come take a seat at this romantic table I cleaned up and reserved just for us- I can do that because I work here and can tell people not to sit here.” Chloe, pretending to be Damián, said. 

With a heavy sigh, Sean gave in. He shrugged, “Wow I can’t believe you reserved a whole table for us.” His voice was filled with angst as bagan cleaning his hands with a rag.

That made Chloe do a happy chair dance, but she quickly snapped back into character, “You sure do be lookin’ like a snacc tonight.”

“Thanks...you look nice too?” Sean said unsure. 

“How about I buy us both drinks? I have a discount because, like I said before; I work here.”

“You’re making him sound like he doesn’t actually...work there…” He pointed out. 

Chloe just rolled her eyes and groaned because she thought her impression of this man who has only ever said one word to her was spot on. “Dude, you’ve given me nothing but ‘he works at the bar’ and ‘he drives a motorcycle’. I need more to work with!!” 

As much as Sean liked Chloe’s spunky personality, this right here was awful.

“What is he actually like? I’m gonna weasel this information out of you no matter what.” Chloe said aggressively, playfully, but...aggressively. “So you better give that shit up now while you still can.”

Sean started smiling like a cheeky little one eyed teenage boy, “Fine, you got me. He’s kinda smooth as fuck.”

“HELLA YEAH!” Chloe exclaimed, smacking her hands together.

“He puts all my past crushes to shame like...back in high school I was obsessed with this girl named Jenn, and what did she even offer me, right? Like, she was the kind of girl who would dye her hair every other weekend and call it a mental breakdown.”

Chloe scratched her face knowing damn well she was the kind of girl who dyed her hair every time she felt a little sad too.

“There's just something about him that just  **works** . He walks into the shop and it feels like sunshine. I was fully convinced that we were just gonna have a one night stand, cuz we met at the bar, started talking, agreed to get drunk together and see what was gonna happen and like...he kept coming back even when we weren’t drunk?”

“Wait so you guys hooked up agAIN?” Chloe asked, covering her mouth.

“No-no, not yet. I must’ve told him that I was a mechanic because like two days later he came into the shop and asked if I could fix up his bike and of course I said yes- we need the money, but when I brought it into the shop he decided to just sit in the garage and talk to me about life and shit. Like what??”

“That is husband material, my guy.” 

“Shut up!” Sean giggled. It was very uncharacteristic of him, “We talked about Daniel and stuff and he seemed genuinely interested in everything- it was crazy! Anyway, my day was ending and he had to leave when I closed up the shop, but you know what?!”

“What?!”

“He came right back the next day and sat in the same chair watching me fix his bike. It’s like, was he afraid I was gonna mess up the bike, or did he just wanna talk to me? I purposely took my time fixing his bike which felt really bad because I charge by the hour and he was here for like...four hours straight. So I finished his bike and he took it and he was like ‘shit I forgot to bring the money. Guess I’ll just need to come by again.’ and I was like ‘yeah I’m gonna need to get paid for this’ and then you and Max came by the next day and he didn’t come by and I was sad. I was genuinely sad that he didn’t come by even though I feel like I’m going to vomit when I look at him.” 

“I would too, son”

“Anyway, he comes in today?! And now I have a DATE?! What the fUCk?! He is literally the sweetest person I know, and he talked about his family a few times and he sounds like such a better big brother than me- I feel fucking embarrassed. Could you imagine what it would be like to pull up to his house for Christmas with Daniel and we could actually have a family to celebrate with?”

Chloe was stunned. She was absolutely floored. She was holding onto her chest gasping with every single sentence he blurted out. “Woah man.” Chloe looked to the camera and then back at Sean, “You got it real bad.”

“I could literally talk about him all day.” Sean rubbed his hands on his face in disappointment. He was disappointed in himself getting so giddy about this. “Ahh- this is so cringy.” 

“Fam I don’t think you need practice talking to him. I feel like if someone comes back to watch you fix their bike  _ that _ many times: YOU’RE DOING GOOD.” Chloe said doing the BOI sign with her hand, you know the one. 

The two of them couldn’t be any more happy than that. Sean went right in for a bro hug with Chloe and Chloe already knew that she was almost 100% fully guaranteed a family discount at the shop now. 

**

Chloe stood outside on the cement deck, she was taking a smoke break.

“Sean is like the little brother I never had and that is super dope. Daniel is like my other little brother, but it do be kinda weird that he’s been stealing my girlfriend away from me for this long. Little does he know...Max and I are stuck together like gorilla glue.”

**


	8. Snooping Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whilst the other two are doing their own thing in the garage, Daniel takes Max snooping around his brothers room in search for some facts about Damián.

Meanwhile, upstairs Max and Daniel were being sneaky little twerps and going through Sean’s messy room. Daniel was on a mission to find his brother’s hidden box of sketchbooks. He needed to know more about Damián, and anything that goes into the sketchbook is pretty serious stuff. If Damián was in the sketchbook...lets just say this would be going on the list of top ten anime betrayals. 

Max looked very guilty just standing in Sean’s room while Daniel riffled through every single drawer around the place. At least she knew that things would be okay if they got caught because she could just rewind. She warned him that stealing things from his brother’s room wasn’t a good idea, but Daniel didn’t care. Daniel had big beef with Damián. 

Finally, after opening the bottom drawer of Sean’s nightstand, “JACK POT!” Daniel whisper shouted holding up a brand new sketchbook that had only a few other pages used. “Come on- we’re going to my room to find out more about this yucky guy.” 

The camera panned up to Max’s face. She pretended to be enthused by this but behind her eyes lied shame. She reluctantly followed him across the hallway into his room. Daniel’s room was very different compared to Sean’s room. It was a lot brighter and there were little gadgets and boxes lying all around on the floor. 

They both sat down on the floor with their legs crossed. Daniel took a moment to second guess himself before opening the first page of the book. This was fine. He flipped through so many pages and grumbled when he wasn’t getting any answers. 

Max was the one who spotted a tiny entry about Damián. It was a very subtle message with a completely unrelated picture of the beach. 

Daniel hunched over and squinted to read it. “Went to the bar to get drunk the other night and ended up meeting literal sunshine. He comes and visits so often and every day I like him….more…” Daniel read. He started laughing, but it sounded slightly like crying? 

Max didn’t know what to do. She just sat back and observed Daniel having...a moment?

“Oh god, it’s worse than I thought it would be...”

“Why is this such a bad thing?” Max asked. “Isn’t this a good thing? He seems happy.”

Daniel sighed and shut the book. He tossed the book away from him and curled up into a ball. “I don’t like getting used to new people, and Sean’s taste has always been  **shit.** ” Dan firmly did the BOI sign, “Plus you didn’t need to witness that night. I almost yeeted Damián right out of the house too. But I had to make a quick decision and chose to hide downstairs instead...it felt so weird. At least Sean was brief in this diary thing.”

She shrugged her shoulders, “Yeah that could be something to wreck your view of someone.” She said with discomfort. 

“Last year he dated this girl for a while and she robbed a thousand dollars from us and then left.” He explained, “I think I have the right to be worried about who he hangs around with now.” 

**

After the situation, Max stood outside of Daniel’s door about to take a bathroom break. 

“Chloe and I got robbed once. We went on a trip to see David once and it turns out we forgot to lock our apartment door for the entire week while we were gone. Whoever broke in didn't steal much...no, they just took all our cutlery and a vintage record player my mom got me for my twentieth birthday. It’s nothing compared to a thousand dollars...but to be fair the record player was really nice.” 

**

“She hated me too. She always called me annoying and hyper, and Sean never called her out for it because he didn’t want to mess things up with her. She was so mean…” Daniel mumbled grumpily. “And I just had to put up with her for months!”

“Maybe Damián will be different? He seems like a good person…” Max suggested.

“I don’t know...I think I’m always gonna hate everyone he likes.” Daniel said as he stood up and climbed up onto his loft bed. 

He asked Max if she wanted to come up too but Max said no; she was more interested in the acoustic guitar he had sitting in his room. She started playing Obstacles by one of her all time favorite groups, Syd Matters. It sounded a little rusty but overall she did a good job.. The guitar was pretty out of tune as well. 

Daniel was, to say the least, amazed by this revelation of musical talent. He clapped as she finished her song. All the chords that he knew were made up by himself so he could never play any songs that he listened to. “Do you think you could teach me some stuff?! That was so cool!!” He asked, excitedly. 

Max smiled. “Yeah, I guess I could teach you a few things. First we gotta tune this thing though.” She explained. 

Daniel leaped off his bed and he walked over to where she was sitting on the floor. “What’s tuning? Is that where you twist the sticky-outy parts?”

Somehow Max was able to teach him for hours even though she herself was just an amateur and didn’t know much about technical things. That was what Daniel liked about her teaching style though; he didn’t feel any pressure to do good and he didn’t get so frustrated when he messed up like he normally would. 

That was how they used up the rest of their day; some wholesome guitar teaching. Max felt super cool having someone look up to her like this. Sean and Chloe stayed out of their way too and just worked on the truck downstairs...or well maybe they did? Max and Daniel didn’t know what they were doing? (Not gonna lie they probably just sat there gossiping for an equal amount of hours, I’m telling you right now Chloe for sure spilt some of her own Max beans.)

**

Daniel was approached in his room while Max was having her bathroom break. Guitar lessons were going pretty well for him. 

“Sean’s ex’s name was Izabella. I think they met at a bar too...Sean goes to bars a lot. They dated for, hmm, maybe six months? She stayed over all the time and it was fucking AWFUL! She’d bring a bunch of her friends over almost everyday when I got home from school and they’d all hang out with Sean and smoke and stuff and I’d just go sit outside by myself until they left. Some of them were a little scary, I’m not gonna lie.”

The camera man said something that made Daniel look disgusted.

“Ew no. I’ve never dated anybody. I’m not like Sean...dating isn’t really my thing, and there are hardly any people my age around here. I’ve never thought about dating anyone really- or like maybe I’ve thought about it, but I decided that I didn’t want to do anything about it. Also, no one at school really liked me anyway.”

The camera man said something that made Daniel look sad.

He nodded, “Yeah, my friend Rey asked me out once. It was really weird and it kinda broke the whole friend group up cuz it made my other two friends feel weird. I said yes to the date actually and we went and had ice cream at the beach. It wasn’t really a  **date** date...it was more like two friends having ice cream on the beach...and then Rey moved away after that and I dropped out of school. So yeah...I don’t date. It’s just weird.” 

**


	9. Sexyback

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sean gets the ultimate Chloe Price lesbian makeover and finally feels ready and excited for this date. Little does he know: he wont be going on this date by himself.

It was a new day once again and the girls woke up on the couch with very sore backs. There wasn’t really any room for them anywhere else in the house (because as you know, the bathtub was being taken up by the camera crew). It was very early in the morning early in the morning and Max decided to try to make breakfast for everyone. Chloe had to put an end to that because no matter how much Max practiced cooking it never worked out.

Over the past two days they hadn’t really had much time to talk because they had each been hanging around with their respective brother. They had a lot to catch up on. 

They both sat down on the upstairs balcony with the scrambled eggs for breakfast, and they left just enough so that the boys would have some to eat too. It was nice to get some fresh air in the morning before it got super hot outside. A bit later the boys found them outside and the whole gang ate some brekkie together. 

Today was all business baby! Sean set Daniel up at the cash, (he reluctantly agreed to this) and he set Max up with a broom and cloth and that girl was perfectly content just cleaning things for the day; honestly it sounded pretty good compared to what Chloe had to do. Sean told Chloe that she would be checking out other people’s cars and fixing them up while he worked on the truck. She may have lied on her resume…luckily it was a Wednesday and not many people came in to get their cars fixed on Wednesdays. 

Either way, cue the bad-ass montage music that went with everyone busting their butts.

When the first customer came in Daniel did his best to greet the man and ask what was wrong. The man explained and Daniel told him to bring his car into the garage. While the man parked his old, red, scuffed up car inside, Daniel translated everything the man said so that Chloe could figure out what to do. This first car had a problem with the thingy that did stuff with the breaks. I mean, that's what Daniel understood. Chloe wiped her forehead and huffed before sliding under the car. 

“You know what you’re doing?” Sean asked, paying more attention to his own work.

“Yep!” Chloe lied.

**

Chloe laughed, “Nope! I have no clue what’s going on right now…”

**

Max swept around the shop peacefully with her headphones on. Just minding her own business. The floor already looked cleaner and she had only been sweeping for like half an hour. Damn Max...good job.

The man sat down in one of the plastic chairs while he waited to have his car back and he read some of the magazines lying around the shop. Daniel looked so bored. He sat with his feet up on the counter and sadly ate a pudding cup. This time he had vanilla pudding. Max was conveniently walking by with her trusty broom right as he was finishing the pudding. He tossed the pudding cup at her and they exchanged a smile. 

The man looked up from his magazine, “ _Oh?_ _You guys are hiring now?_ ”

Daniel’s head snapped around to look at the man, “ _ Hiring? Uhh...no. _ ” Daniel tried to say. 

“ _ I have a nephew who wants to work as a mechanic. _ ” 

“ _ Sorry, we only accept Diaz family. Gotta stay on brand. _ ”

“ _ She doesn’t look like a sister? _ ” The man said letting his glasses fall down his nose.

“ _ Some people are mixed, Jerry...geez...get over it... _ ”

Jerry immediately pushed his reading glasses back up and hid away behind his paper. 

Throughout the day Chloe had about four customers, and two were set to stay overnight. To be truthful, she didn’t know if anything she was doing to these vehicles was correct. She only knew bootleg/DIY mechanical stuff and whatever her dad taught her when she was twelve. That was all that she was going off of. Her dad would be so proud of her right now. 

Daniel made sure that all the customers got a special holiday discount, and when they asked what holiday he told them that it was Australia day; where his sister and her wife were from. Truth be told no one actually knew when Australia day was.

Evening rolled around and it was finally closing time. Thank the gods. Max had cleaned every inch of the shop, Daniel had at least four pudding cups, Chloe was absolutely tuckered out after using every bit of brain power she had to figure out how to fix cars, and Sean...well Sean was starting to get anxious about his date again. When he realized at four o’clock that five o’clock was closing time, and closing time meant that seven o’clock was just six o’clock away, he began to sweat. 

**

Sean was alone at the cash now locking everything up for the night. Man had pit stains, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead, and yet somehow, despite all this perspiration, his mouth was as dry as the desert outside. 

“Maybe I shouldn’t have agreed to this thing.” He began, swiping his hand through his hair and then wiping his hand on his shirt. “I don’t need to show up if I don’t want to…no one is forcing me to do this.”

The camera man said something.

“I know I seemed excited about it yesterday, but that was yesterday. Right now...I think I’m gonna go tell everyone that I changed my mind. I’m just gonna ghost Damián and just pray that he finds a new mechanic.” 

The camera man said something again and zoomed in on Sean’s face as he pressed his lips together.

“Oh man...you’re right. He does know where I live and could show up at any time now…” Sean mumbled, turning around on his heels back and forth, “Oh man...I have no choice.” He opened the door to the backroom, “I gotta go on this date. Fuck.” 

Sean left.

**

The gang waited in the living room while Sean washed up with the Dawn Dish Detergent and oTheR soApS. Chloe ushered him into his room to help him get dressed. This was going to be the ultimate lesbian makeover, and was Sean happy about that? Uhhh not sure?? Either way, Chloe had already put SexyBack on and this was about to be the exit of a century.

“Okay-okay. We’re about to come out guys-hang on!” Chloe said from behind the door. Max and Daniel sat patiently in the living room and watched the door. 

Mr. Sean Eduardo Diaz definitely left that room looking like Chloe dressed him. He was wearing one of them cool button up shirts with the first few buttons undone and the sleeves kinda rolled up. It was an off grey color and stained with paint and oil, but Chloe told him that stains added character so that was totally cool. Together the two of them chose between six pairs of jeans and decided on a nice neutral pair of black ones. At least there was variety in the pantaloons department now. Also some sandals, just in case this night ended on the beach….they needed to be prepared. You know. He kinda looked like his dad, not gonna lie...don’t think too hard about his outfit. 

Chloe’s five foot nine ass held onto him by the shoulders and presented him to the gang like a piece of art. Max threw her hands over her mouth and then started clapping, she thought he was adorable. Daniel was floored; he had never seen his brother look this put together. He looked really cool and now Daniel low-key wanted a Chloe Price exclusive makeover. 

“Now it’s dance time man!” Chloe said jumping up and down WITH FULL HYPE. SexyBack was the best date hype song.

Sean looked at her desperately with pain in his eyes. 

“OH HELL YEAH!! Dance time!!” Daniel shouted, struggling to stand up on the couch fast enough. 

Even Max was cool with chair dancing for this and doing lip syncing to all the parts Timbaland had in the song. 

Chloe cranked that shit even louder to drown out Sean’s complaints, “Dude you need a confidence boost and this is the only way to do it! U D4 M4N N U G0TT4 0WN IT.” 

After fifteen years of disappearing from the limelight, Seanie Boy was back on the dance floor. Everyone cheered as he did some funky moves. They were something alright. Cross your fingers and hope that Damián never asks him to dance. 

The camera crew was overwhelmed with where to look.

The party got crazy with everyone standing up on any bit of furniture they could fit on. Chloe gave Max a whole lap dance in front of a sixteen year old. It was all fun and games but Daniel really didn’t fit in with these weird, horny adults??? Every once in a while it got a bit too crazy, but thanks to his wonderful power he was able to make the lights flicker and turned this four person party into a whole ass rave!!!

Sadly, the dancing only lasted about four minutes a two seconds. (For me it lasted about thirty minutes...I listened to SexyBack more times than I want to admit and it was shockingly enjoyable.) It was now time for Sean to head to the bar. Chloe was right, this was a huge confidence booster, it almost worked too well. Sean had a bit of an ego now.

Daniel gave Sean a final hug before letting him leave. The dance party also made him feel better because he knew Sean could never get a man with moves like that. In a strange...awful way...SexyBack made everything better, and that was beautiful. 

******

The camera met with Sean outside the house. He was going to be walking to the bar now.

“Oh yeah, I feel much more prepared for the date now. I’m Sean freaking Diaz and I’m pretty cool!” He laughed loudly, bouncing anxiously on his feet. “Not too cool though!” He shot some finger guns at the camera before walking away from the camera, but because the camera was watching him leave he forgot how to walk naturally. 

**

Max, Chloe and Daniel now had nothing to do. The party was over and everyone was bored. 

“So, Daniel, you got any board games?” Chloe asked. 

Daniel quickly went into his room and brought out an old monopoly box that had half the cards missing. They all gathered around the kitchen table and set up the board. The game started off really fun; Max was destroying everyone’s lives. Half way through the game she had caused Daniel to go completely broke because he kept landing on all of her super stacked properties that were fully decked out. Max was making StOnkS! He had to sit there for half an hour watching other people play his own board game. He took out his guitar and sat on the couch playing his own messy version of Gary’s Song from Spongebob, only he replaced Gary with Sean. 

After getting so bored, “Hey, guys...do you think it would be a really bad idea if we went to the bar and spied on Sean’s date?” Daniel asked. 

The eyebrows raised between the girls. Max had to speak up, “We shouldn’t spy on him. That's an invasion of his privacy. We should respect him.” 

Chloe gave her the stink face, “Says the queen of snooping. You literally used to use your power to spy on everyone and look through their shit. You solved a whole murder by snooping and spying. I’m just saying...maybe we could go take a look at this and make sure that the date goes okay. It couldn’t hurt...could it?” 

Max shifted uncomfortably in her chair, “I don’t know...I’m not about that life anymore…”

“What else are we supposed to do here? You’re little buddy is bored!” Chloe argued. 

Max held out her hand, “We could play on my Switch again, Daniel! You like doing that, right?” 

Daniel gave her a boo-boo lip, “We can play on the Switch any day...spying on a date is a once in a lifetime opportunity…”

“He’s got a point Max. If we get caught you could just rewind. No biggie!” 

Max looked into the camera and sighed, “Yeah...that's kinda true…” she said, beginning to help everyone clean up the table. “I’m sure it won't hurt anyone if we do just a little bit of snooping. I mean, what if this guy is a murderer too? We can’t take any chances.”

And that was that. They were out the door and in the van; on their way to the bar. Luckily Daniel had already been there before and knew exactly where to go. They were fully decked out in matching black hoodies and sunglasses. Where they got these outfits, I do not know. Don’t ask the all seeing author any questions. I am giving you content and that's all I do.

**

Daniel sat rigid in the driver's seat with the camera man next to him, while Max, Chloe, and the sound guy sat in the back. They did a group rendition of the Perry The platypus theme.

“Doo-bee-doo-bee-doo-bah-Doo-bee-doo-bee-doo-bah-Doo-bee-doo-bee-doo-bah-Doo-bee-doo-bee-doo-BAH- PERRY!” They all sang in perfect harmony. 

“He’s a semi-aquatic, egg layin’ mammal of action!” Daniel sang. They girls hyped him up. “He’s a furry little flatfoot, who’ll never flinch from a fra-eeay-eeay!” 

Max and Chloe passed around the next two lines.

“He’s got more than just mad skill-”

“He’s got a beaver tail and a bill!”

Then back to Danny in the front.

“And the women swoon whenever they hear him say…”

The camera panned over to Max, “Krrrrr.” 

Chloe moaned.

“HE’S PERRY! PERRY THE PLATYPUS!” 

The drive was actually not that far.

**


	10. The Date pt.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sean waits in the bar for the godforsaken date to begin.

The camera man and the sound guy diverged and now they were both camera men. One of them went inside the bar, while the other one stayed watching the spy gang outside.

Inside the bar, Sean sat at the counter just minding his own business alone. Somehow, during Sean’s lonely walk to the bar he was able to convince himself that he had to be nervous again. It was also super inconvenient that Damián happened to be running late.

At first he wanted to wait before ordering his first drink, but after twenty minutes he needed that shit. The constant monologue inside his head recreated the scene in Spongebob. Remember that time Spongebob was in desperate need of water in Sandy’s dome. Yes, that was Sean, only this time, instead of water it was the forbidden liquid. I’m never going to explicitly state that Sean relies on drugs and alcohol to cope with stress (because that is not very cash money for him to do)...but like…you could see it in his eye. He needed it.

The bar was not too busy; there were small groups of people scattered around the small building. Behind the counter there was only one person working. She was a pretty cool gal.

Finally, after centuries of waiting, Damián came swaggering in through the door. Now was the optimal time for him to do that classic move; he crept up behind Sean and WHAM " _ Guess who it is? _ " He said, holding his hands over Sean's eye.

Sean almost jumped out of his chair and his hands fumbled around the counter trying to grab onto something. He ripped the hands off his face and turned around. He regret turning around. Now he had to make eye contact and feel flustered at the same time and that was never an easy thing to hide. “ _ For Christ’s sake, Damián! You could’ve killed me doing that… _ ” He said, sounding rather embarrassed. 

Damián gave him a pat on the cheek, “ _ Awe, I’m only teasing. _ ” and he sat down on the bar-stool next to Sean. “ _ Sorry I’m so late. Had a bit of trouble on the way here. _ ”

“ _ Oh damn, what kind of trouble? _ ” Sean, ya boi, knew all about trouble. He was having trouble right now trying to get his straw in his mouth.

**

Sean stood by the bathroom doors, “Trouble is my middle name. Hah...I mean wow look at us; we’re double trouble.” He shook his head, “Nah that's so lame. Looking at it now, I don’t know if it’s such a good idea to get involved with this guy?” Sean turned around to look at Damián back at the bar, “Who am I kidding, I literally can’t do any better than that. I am one hundred percent getting involved with this guy.” 

**

He shrugged,  _ “Ahhh, loan sharks got me good.” _

The camera zoomed in as Sean choked on his drink.

_ “Nothing to be worried about though, I’m actually old friends with the guy. He lent the bar some money a few weeks ago so we could host a little party for a client. Turns out they want their money back...right. now.”  _ Damián laughed casually,  _ “Like, don’t they know I’m on a date tonight?” _

Sean scratched his face awkwardly, “Are...are you okay?”

_ “Ohhh yeah, everything is fine now. The guy showed up at my house right as i was leaving and he said, “I need my money now.” and I said, “We haven’t made it back yet, just give us another week” and he said, “I know you guys have it.” and I was like, “If we had it, you would have it by now.” and then he said, “Pay me out of pocket or you’ll pay with your life.” and I was like, “Woah! It was twenty thousand pesos, I don’t think that is worth a lifetime in prison for murder!” and then he told me that he never went to jail for a murder before, and not to try him, but I’ve known this guy for years now and he’s all talk. Don’t worry about anything.”  _ Damián explained. He waved the bartender over for a drink.  _ “He’ll have his money soon.” _

While all this was happening Sean was leaning into his hand, nodding along trying to take it all in. He looked pretty spaced out listening to the sound of Damián's dreamy voice. It was so hot how he got threatened with murder and then casually showed up to a date twenty minutes later. Finally...a man who got the struggle of owning a business.

“ _ I hope you’re not too upset that I’m late. I’ll make it up to you with a drink or food or anything you want. It’s not everyday this kind of thing happens. _ ” Damián said, taking his drink from the bartender. “ _ I take the blame for most of the things that happen at the bar here, so please don’t think I’m in any trouble. If anything it’s this place that's in trouble. _ ”

“ _ Chill, it’s cool. _ ” Said the man who was very not ‘chill’ or ‘cool’ about this a few minutes before. _ “I didn’t get any ‘trouble’ vibes when you came into the shop all those times...I actually liked it.” _

“ _ Oh good! I thought doing that might be a bit too forward? I just really needed to see you again…I really like you. _ ”

Curve ball! The major LIS decision screen popped up and Sean had to decide whether he was gonna be awkward or smooth. This action will have consequences…

Sean forgot to swallow his drink before speaking, and it caused him to dribble like a small child. But that happens to the best of us. At least Damián thought it was cute. “ _ I like you too. _ ” He said. His actual choice was unknown and scientists debate to this day whether he chose to be awkward or smooth.

Without warning Damián leaned right over and kissed him-just like that! It was top tier level shit, like it was not one of them wacky ‘you gotta agree to do major crimes to get a kiss’ kinda shit. It was genuine, and sweet, and Sean didn’t need to agree to do any sort of heist or be peer pressured into skinny dipping for this! Damián was out here liking Sean for the dribbling, one eyed mess he was.


	11. The Date pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the date continues, it quickly goes south- and not the cool kinda south.

The sneaky-spy gang crouched below the front window with their heads poking up to analyse the room. They looked extra shady in their matching black hoodies and sunglasses. Sure it was night-time, but spies needed to wear coordinated black clothing and sunglasses at all times.

“Targets located at the bar, Superwolf. What's the maneuver?” Chloe asked in her spy voice.

“We enter the front door and sit down in the booth behind them. Make eye contact with no one, and don’t talk to anyone, Captain Chloe.” Daniel said, narrowing his eyes in on his brother and Mr.Stupid.

“You got it. Come on Maxi-pad, it’s time to live like our wonder years.” Chloe said, giving ‘Maxi-pad’ a pat on the back. Her and Daniel started moving into the bar.

Max sighed and stood behind with the camera man, “I wanted to be Mad Max...I told them I wanted to be Mad Max...” She lazily jogged behind them.

It was totally normal to see three hooded figures with sunglasses enter a bar and sit down right away. They had to speak in hushed voices so that Sean and Damián wouldn’t be able to hear them. The bartender walked up to the three of them and asked if they wanted to buy anything. In an attempt to not be suspicious, Max and Chloe both ordered drinks while Daniel translated. Like a good bartender though, she asked for Daniel’s ID. Daniel had no ID on him at all, therefore Max and Chloe pretended to be his American mothers so he would not get kicked out. 

**

When the girls got their drinks, Daniel sat with the camera guy, “I tried to drink once and OH MAN- never again! One night Sean had his ex girlfriend over and all her friends, and they asked me if I wanted to try this cool raspberry vodka they had, and like...it sounded good. I like raspberries! But it was not raspberries. It tasted the way that the garage smells! But I wanted to be cool so I drank the whole thing and got SO drunk. SO SO SO drunk. And guess what- Drunk Daniel equals uncontrollable telekinesis.” He stated, clearly drawing up some not so good memories. “Sean had to lock me in my room while he tried to get everyone to leave. It took him three hours. I don’t even think he was trying to get people to leave at that point.”

** 

It was now time for the spying to officially begin. Unfortunately, Daniel had to translate everything he heard to the girls. Daniel frowned, “He’s freaking talking about Mushroom…”

Back over to the second camera.

After that kiss, Damián decided to show off a bunch of pictures of his dog. His dog’s name was Toro, which meant bull. Toro was a big, muscular bulldog, so the name made sense. He wasn’t the cutest looking dog on the planet. He was a big dense boy who could probably run into concrete and break it. But my goodness- that boy was smiling in every single picture Damián had of him.

“ _ The last dog I had was named Mushroom. Daniel and I found her at a convenience store actually. She was a little mutt...she didn’t get to stick around too long. Kind of a bummer...I’m sorry. I’m not much of a dog person anymore; don’t like getting attached to them. _ ”

“ _ I don’t even think an asteroid could kill Toro. I rescued him from an alleyway while I was living in Caborca. _ ”

As if this dude couldn't get any cooler; he freaking rescued dogs- like what?!

" _ Caborca? Oh! Daniel and I lived there for a few months when we first got to Mexico because we needed somewhere to stay and save some money."  _ Sean explained. He was going to leave out the fact that working in Caborca for five months was shitty as heck. _ “What a coincidence…” _

Damián took a big swig of his drink and leaned into the conversation, " _ It's a very interesting place to live. I go back and visit about once a month because my family still lives there. What made you come to Puerto Lobos?" _

" _ It's where my dad grew up and he always talked about taking us here someday. Can't do that if he's dead though- oops."  _ Sean was shocked by how morbid that comment was. 

Damián looked at him sympathetically, " _ That must be hard living without your dad." _

Sean panicked; this was too deep.  _ "How about we change the topic back to something lighter?" _

Immediately his face lit up _ , "Ooh! I know, I know!"  _ Damián said excitedly. He signaled for the bartender to come over to them and he asked for a bottle of whip cream. Yes, this bar had a bottle of whip cream lying around. Yes, it was always reserved for Damián. When the lady gave him the bottle he popped the cap off and swirled some onto his hand. He was gonna do that cool "slap ya hand: get-it-in-ya-mouth" thing.

He steadied his hand and lined it up. Sean watched, confused and on the edge of his seat as this grown man poured whip cream on his hand. Damián smacked his hand but the whip cream didn't land in his mouth (due to some non-disclosed magical force.) That was something that had never happened before.

Sean tried not to laugh at this failure, but found it very difficult to sit respectfully while someone else had a giant clump of whip cream on their face. He grabbed a napkin and helped Damián wipe it off. " _ Do you do that party trick a lot?" _

" _ Yes actually. It normally works too. I must be nervous around you or something?"  _ Damián said, making an awful lot of eye contact while Sean wiped his face. To a normal person that would probably be hot, but right now the three of us just feel anxious. " _ Let me go again." _

Again, Damián did the same shit. Whip, hand, smack, miss!! First time, shame on me, second time um double shame on me? Whip, hand smack, MISS! Third time something suspicious. There was now whip cream on the floor and whip cream on the counter. Damián was utterly embarrassed.

In an attempt to make him feel better, Sean took the bottle and out some whip cream on his own hand. He had never tried this before, but Damián was making it look like an absolute hoot and a half. Sean smacked his hand and the whip cream landed straight into his mouth. What a king!!! We love a short king who can smack whip cream in his mouth in front of hot guys!!

" _ Alright wow, you didn't need to flex like that. You could've just kept laughing while I tried."  _ Damián admitted _. _

" _ Come on...you were pretty adorable when you got it on your forehead." _

Just as they were looking idk lovingly??? at each other, three large men wearing rough looking clothes and scary mean faces walked in. Of course they walked right over to Damián and Sean. They looked like the spy gang but on steroids.

The smallest guy was in the front, but even the smallest guy was extra large. Behind him were two even DENSER looking men, and they meant business my dude. Damián turned to look at them and he stopped smiling.

" _ Damián, I heard you don't wanna pay us back. We've got a problem with that."  _ The smallest big guy said.

_ "I told him I'd have it in by next week."  _ Damián argued, getting ready to stand up if he needed to.

" _ You said that last week. We can't wait no more." _

Damián looked at Sean in panic. " _ It's just money-" _

Without warning one of the secondary guys wrapped his big beefy arm around Sean's neck. The main guy spoke, "- _ it's just money, pfft. This is just a person." _ he said mockingly.

By now people were starting to crowd around the door, trying to get away from the action and leave. The bartender tried to intervene in the commotion, but the other BIG man knocked the poor girl out cold. The camera men freaked out and could not focus on one situation. 

The spy gang couldn't believe what they were witnessing. Chloe hid Daniel behind her in the booth to protect him.

" _ There's no need to be doing this, sir…"  _ Damián begged, coming to his feet.

**_"_ ** _ Actually there is; you've been ripping us off for ages now and we're getting sick of it."  _ The guy said, yanking Sean by the neck out of his chair.

This made Damián activate fight or flight and our boy chose fight baby!!! He smoked the smallest big boy right in the face, causing him to release Sean. Damián pulled Sean away from everything and ushered him behind his back.

" _ I won't hesitate bitch."  _ The main man said, in Spanish of course so it didn't sound like a meme, and he pulled out a gun. He closed in on Damián and held the gun right to his head!!!

Damián was breathing heavily, " _ Please...don't-" _

**BANG!** The man shot Damián right on his sticky forehead. Blood splattered behind onto Sean, and Damián's limp, dead body dropped to the floor. Sean fell to his knees in SHOCK.  **BANG!** A bullet went straight through Sean’s neck like the bullets always do.

Max quickly held out her hand and reversed time, even though she swore never to use her power to do things like this anymore. Saving lives seemed to be a direct offence to the universe. That shit right there was just way too traumatic and she knew they were all gonna be next.

Damián was breathing heavily, " _ Please...don't-" _

Max shook Daniel vigorously, "USE YOUR POWER RIGHT NOW, DANIEL."

The first gunshot went off and without even second guessing himself, Daniel yeeted all three bad guys so hard behind the counter. Their bodies crashed into the walls full of bottles and all the shelves came crashing down onto them like an avalanche. Luckily the shot missed both Sean and Damián because Daniel acted just in time. 

Sean looked around the bar panicked and confused until he caught sight of Daniel and the girls, "Daniel what the fuck are you doing here!? What did you do!?"

They had no time to talk- it was time to make a run for the van. The five of them sprinted outside to the spy mobile and they all piled in like clowns in a clown car while Chloe sped off towards the house.

Everyone was gasping for air when they got in the van. Max sat in the front seat with Chloe, and the boys all sat at the back with the crew. Sean was more than pissed at Daniel: he was hella pissed. The van was filled with incoherent screaming and yelling coming from every direction. It was incredibly overwhelming for Daniel, he needed to cover his ears. You best believe that Damián was sitting there screaming one consistent note because he couldn’t understand anything.

"Daniel, what were you thinking being there?! You could've died!" Sean yelled, smacking Daniel's head.

Max turned around in her seat and spoke with her deepest voice possible, “NO. YOU COULD'VE DIED.”

Sean looked at her shocked and confused, "WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?"

"I reversed the timeline and told Daniel to save you guys. You guys would've died! There is a whole reality where you are both lying dead on that bar floor."

Chloe had no prior knowledge of that because she never saw it happen. Time warpy powers do be wack. "Holy shit Max...you hella saved their lives. Think of what could've happened if we weren't there."

Damián looked into the camera. He had no fucking clue what was going on right now. First he was in the bar, then he was getting ambushed by loan sharks, and now he was sitting in the backseat of a messy van, all while his date, two American girls, and a teenage boy panicked in English.

"Ugh I feel like I'm gonna be sick. Get us home faster, Chloe!" Daniel begged.

When they got home to safety, everyone rushed upstairs and sat in the living room. Max and Chloe sat in opposite arm chairs. Sean and Damián shared the couch. And Daniel paced around the room.

With rage practically pouring out of his ears, Sean yelled, “I can’t believe you guys took MY SIXTEEN YEAR OLD BROTHER to a BAR- not only that but TO SPY ON ME! I thought I could trust you guys to make sure he stayed safe, and that you guys stayed safe- I?! DO YOU GUYS SHARE A COLLECTIVE BRAIN CELL??? HUH?”

“Sean stop yelling! You’re scaring me…” Daniel said, covering his ears and looking away from everyone.

“What's scary is finding out your little brother- who you're supposed to be protecting for the rest of eternity- is in the same room as a man with a gun! And you’ve used your power in a public place- do you know what that means!? I would’ve been fine if you weren’t there!”

Chloe leaned forward in her seat about ready to beat Sean to a pulp, “SEAN DO YOU SHARE A COLLECTIVE BRAIN CELL WITH THE DIRTY RUG ON THE FLOOR!?”

“CHLOE JESUS CHRIST!” Max shouted holding her back, “Sean, I watched you get shot! I promise! I told Daniel to use his power to save you and Damián!”

He glared at Daniel, “Oh let me guess, Daniel was also the one who was fucking with the whip cream I bet?”

“It was just a joke! Geez...”

“You know what, if you weren’t there maybe he would’ve landed it, and things would’ve turned out differently.”

“How?! I messed up a stupid game. You didn't even notice until now-” Daniel said in defense

“-Maybe he could've landed that and we could’ve gone to the bathroom instead of staying in the seats, and then we would have avoided the guys entirely.” Sean added.

“You would’ve taken him to the bathroom just for catching a bit of food in his mouth…? That’s kinda low man…” Chloe mumbled

“Don’t judge me. I know your sins too.”

Max began clapping her hands together, “Sean. It. Was. Not. His. Fault! You can’t blame us for saving your life!”

“You guys are the ones that convinced me to go on a date in the first place!!”

“Oh come on! You can't blame that on us!"

“Oh ho ho!! I was  **strongly** against this date-” Daniel added.

“WHAT IS GOING ON!?” Damián shouted standing on his feet.

Everyone stopped talking right away and stared at Damián.

“I know very little English. Someone explain.” 

The chaos gang exchanged concerned dirty looks. Max and Chloe sure weren't gonna explain this mess, and Daniel still looked like he was gonna get sick on Sean's dirty carpet brain cell.

Sean sighed, he held a finger up to signal for everyone else to shut up.  _ "There is a lot to unpack here and you probably aren't going to believe me…" _ he began, " _ The two girls here are very distant family friends who have recently come to visit us for the first time because they found out about Daniel." _

_ "What's wrong with Daniel?" _

_ "He has telekinesis." _

_ "What?" _

_ "Yes." _

_ "No?" _

_ "Yes. He can move things with his mind- it is a very long story." _

_ "What?" _

_ "The short brown haired one is Max, and the tall blond haired one is her girlfriend Chloe." _

_ "Ahhh."  _ Damián nodded approvingly and waved to each of them. MLM/WLW solidarity.

" _ Max can reverse time, like a time machine. And she saw us get shot in the bar in an alternate reality." _

_ "What?!" _

_ "Yes." _

_ "No!"  _ By now Damián was hella freaked out and couldn't believe what he was hearing.

" _ Yes. I don't believe it either but I assure you this is not the first time Daniel has destroyed an entire building in an attempt to save people from getting shot." _

Damián looked at him perplexed. No thoughts. Head empty. “ _ Are you high??” _

" _ Don't think too hard. Just...stay here for a while because we may have killed three guys and destroyed your bar." _

Suddenly Daniel had to rush to the bathroom cuz !man! his nerves were getting to him and ya boy had to puke up all those goddamn pudding cups he had earlier in the day. Quickly, Sean ran into the bathroom after him to be a good brother and make sure he was okay.

The girls and Damián all watched the bathroom door to see when it would open again. None of them looked at each other, but the vibes between the two wlw and mlm pairs were immaculate.

When Sean and Daniel left the bathroom Daniel had tears streaming down his face and he was not looking too good. Sean brought him back to the couch in the living room and sat him down. "Are you alright now? Are you gonna be sick again?"

Daniel shook his head and pushed his brother away from him angrily, "I'm fine. I just want to stop talking about this." He said.

Sean surveyed the room trying to figure out what they were all gonna do. "Okay well, just go to your room and we'll all be quiet."

Chloe interrupted, "Where the hell are Max and I gonna sleep? We're not sharing the couch again."

Like an angry mother goose, Sean said, "You guys can sleep outside like dogs tonight. We don't need to be good hosts every night and you guys are lucky you can stay-"

"Sean! They're my friends! They can sleep in my room...I'll stay on the couch. It's better like that anyway, just in case I feel sick again."

Reluctantly Sean said that it was fine. Max felt super guilty about Chloe complaining, if it were up to her she would've just stayed on the couch to avoid being rude. Was it social anxiety or was it politeness? We'll never know. As the two of them walked off into Daniel's room for bedtime, Max looked at Chloe with utter disappointment.

The rest of them stayed in the living room. Sean propped a few pillows up for Daniel to sleep on and he took the blanket that was sitting on one of the arm chairs and threw it over him. He laid down and tried to get comfortable. Although he was holding his composure right now, Daniel looked like he was going to burst out in tears.

"Are you gonna be alright? _ I'm just gonna be outside telling Damián what's going on."  _ Sean asked, brushing the hair out of Daniel's face.

Daniel shooed Sean's hand away from him, he turned his head away to face Damián, "Uh.  _ Yeah I'm fine. Just try not to be angry at me for no reason anymore." _

_ "I'm not that angry at you!" _

Damián took that as his cue to guide Sean out of the room. They went down the stairs and sat on the cement deck thing with their feet in the sand. The lights in the office and the garage really lit the deck up and the sun was setting into the water like the sun does. It was pretty far down so the sky was BRIGHT orange.


	12. The Date pt.3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is one long ass date.

**

Before Sean and Damián sat down outside, Sean was pulled aside- also don’t ask me why no one ever asks about the camera crew, like I said before: I don’t make the rules.

“I really should’ve kept this at a one night stand. Kids- or whoever you guys are filming this for: don’t try to pursue anything with your drunken hook-ups. It does not go well. Now if you’ll let me go, I need to go explain telekinesis to someone who will probably sue me for destruction of property.” Sean said as the camera followed him out onto the cement deck thingy. 

**

By the time Sean had finished telling Damián about the godforsaken years of 2016-17 the sky was no longer orange; it was deep blue. I am sorry I described the pretty sunset last chapter only to be like ‘Yeah that bitch gone now.’

“ _I can’t believe I told you my entire story on the first date!_ ” Sean said exasperated. Also he left out the story of how they crossed the border, he didn’t want to reveal to Damián that he was actually a very highly sought after criminal in America. You know, there had to be some boundaries for the first date.

“ _I can’t believe you know two magical people!_ ” Damián said. “ _I can’t believe I know two magical people..._ ”

“ _Maybe this should be our last date...I feel like we’re both kind of dangerous to be around at the moment.”_ Sean said, trying to hide his sadness because he wanted to stay mature. _“You know...loan sharks and...my situation, they just don’t go together.”_

Damián ran his hand up the back of his neck and turned around to look at Sean, “ _What!? No! You can’t just tell someone your life story and then get rid of them! Isn’t danger plus danger like two negatives being added together? Two negatives make a positive.”_

_“This isn’t just danger plus danger; this is danger plus danger...plus little danger, plus weird time travel danger, plus money danger, and probably even more danger that just hasn’t happened yet.”_

“ _Uhh...multiplication.”_

“ _That just makes even more danger??”_ Sean said in confusion, but it made him smile.

 _“But….”_ Damián sighed and tilted his head up into the air. He had to pause for a moment to really consider everything while Sean just stared at him awkwardly waiting for a response. “ _I understand where you’re coming from, and if you want to stop seeing each other that's fine. This is your life and I don’t want to interfere with your decisions.”_

Ah nuts. He really didn’t want to do this. Man, Damián just tried to do math with words! That was sweet! Where else was he gonna find someone who could do whip cream tricks and math with words?! It wasn’t safe to stay together though, and he needed to make sure Daniel was protected at all times. There had been too many mistakes before. 

_“Damián, I’m sorry. Maybe we could try again later on in life...if we ever meet again.”_ Sean suggested. It was always like this. Alright everybody, better mark Damián down on the long list of people Sean had said ‘maybe we’ll meet again’ to.

 _“Bruh! If we’re both in danger constantly we might not get to live that long! We actually got shot tonight in another reality!”_ Damián whined, promptly grabbing onto Sean’s shoulders. “ _We could die at_ **_any_ ** _moment.”_

I mean he wasn’t wrong was he? Man was spittin factz. Somehow, Damián was able to wrap his head around this whole ‘telekinesis’ and ‘time travel’ situation remarkably fast. Even if they could potentially die at any moment, there were still actions to take to try to prevent things from happening. 

“ _I’ve only got one eye left to lose. I can’t just do whatever I want and be reckless.”_ Sean said.

 _“If you lose your last eye I will be your new eyes. I am really good at describing things.”_ Damián said...looking him in the eye. Eye am so sorry. 

Hook up, go on one date… ‘I will be your eyes if you ever lose them’...that's even deeper than a marriage proposal. Sean could tell that the statement was slightly exaggerated, but it was still a nice gesture. 

“ _It isn’t bad to spend time with someone who makes you happy. If someone makes you happy you just gotta be with them, okay?”_ Damián said. Spittin’ factz once again.

 _“Sounds more like what you want to do.”_ Sean said, like a bitch. 

Damián smacked his leg to make a statement, “ _Just cause I’m a himbo doesn’t mean I don’t see that you get all giddy on the inside when I come around.”_ Damián said with no bullshit in his eyes. _“You basically became a father at sixteen and you clearly haven’t been happy since. I’m invested now, man...I wanna make you happy.”_

Staying in contact with Damián meant that mean guys who were willing to kill for money would be present now, but guys like this have always been around when you own one of the most successful mechanic shops in miles. Also Daniel was an issue because Daniel hated Damián, but also Daniel hated everyone soo ehh?? Leaving Damián would simply mean no more Damián. But...no Damián meant no cute party tricks, no hugs, no kisses, no doggy pictures, no little spoon snuggles, no surprise visits to the shop, no attention, he would never get surprise breakfast in the morning, no one to sleep next to, no one to fill that void in his heart, the list could go on- I mean what else do you want me to say??

There it was; the major Life Is Strange decision screen popped up again. Stay with Damián or break things off? 

Sean’s body relaxed, “ _You’re right.”_ He sighed, _“If we die we might as well die feeling happy.”_

Damián wrapped his arm around Sean’s shoulder, “ _Hate to say it- but that's the spirit!_ ”

The camera crew both went “aww” at the same time and then smacked each other for making noise. 

To sum it up, after they decided to remain in contact they discovered that the ocean existed. Damián's forehead was still kinda sticky after the mess ups and they had to do something about that, right? So it was splish splash time!! Only this time, Damián didn’t pressure Sean into getting naked in the water, and he would NEVER make fun of Sean’s dick because that is VERY not cash money for ANYONE to do. 

Splish splash they were havin’ a bath in the ocean at night and the moon lit up the water cuz that what the moon do. They played Marco Polo and didn’t do a very good job because they liked opening their eyes too much- excuse me- Damián liked to open his eyes, Sean liked to open his eye. They just liked looking at each other, okay? They flipped around and flopped into the water like bowls of jello and just let loose and had a great time! We love gays™ in the water. 

Eventually they got tired of playing like children and needed to take some time to dry off before heading on inside. Conveniently, there was a nice big rock good enough to sit and dry off on.

Now they were looking up at the stars all cute and shit like that. Two bros looking at the stars- not a foot a apart- and this time they’re (atleast) half gay. 

Sean tried his best to guide Damián's finger through the air to draw out the constellations in the sky. It wasn’t working. “ _That’s the Big Dipper. It's the easiest one to see, come on!”_ He said, laughing.

“ _I just...can’t see it.”_

_“It’s a big spoon in the sky! How can you not see it?!”_

“ _All the stars are just little dots to me. Except for that red star. Why’s that star red?”_

_“That's Mars. That’s a whole planet.”_

_“What?! We can see planets from earth?!”_

_“Yeah...did you not know that?”_

_“Nobody's ever wanted to look at the stars with me, so I don’t know much about planets.”_

And then yeah like man, Sean just kissed him or something like yeah. It was just a cute moment alright. (I don’t write romance, but I will say...that was kinda romantic or something. We love gays™ looking at the stars.) While on the rock, they decided that it would be a good idea for Damián to stay over for many days because safety in numbers. Maybe? They made plans to go pick up his dog in the morning.

It was now time to head inside to go to bed, so they raced back to the house and Sean won because Damián was still low-key in la la land after the stars. They entered the house quietly and Sean made sure to lock everything up and turn all the lights off before they went upstairs. I guess it was just a given that Damián was gonna be sleeping in Sean’s room; he’d already been in there once so I guess it's not weird. The Diaz boys were wildly unprepared for this many visitors at once. Man if they get any more unexpected visitors someone is gonna end up needing to sleep on the kitchen table.

**

While Sean was closing up, the camera crew caught up with Damián for the first time. Luckily, the camera crew took mandatory Spanish lessons in high school.

 _“Yes! I am having a pretty good night all in all! It’s a little bit weird having all this new stuff going on, but I am ready for it!”_ He told the camera, holding his thumbs up happily. _“My favorite part of every day this week was coming into the shop and just getting to know Sean and his life. I don’t care about any of the problems we face because I see too much in him to let him slip away. Actually, when I was fifteen my family took a trip to Disneyland in Florida, and I took a picture with the guy dressed up as Captain Jack Sparrow. I was wearing a shirt from a band that I liked at the time, and he pointed it out and we talked for a few minutes. He only spoke English so I didn’t really get what was going on the whole time, but he told me_ “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” _He said it was his own quote and just...wow. I wrote it down on a napkin when I went back to have lunch with my family. Don’t ask me how the conversation with Jack Sparrow got so philosophical, but I still think about his quote to this day and I live by it. Sean Diaz is a shot that I am willing to take.”_ Damián explained, smiling as the camera zoomed in on his face. 

He did not know.

**

All the lights in the living room were off so they assumed Daniel was asleep. However, right before Sean entered his room he heard a little sniffle. He paused before turning around; he had to go be a good big brother. 

He stood in front of the couch and quietly crouched down. “Hey man, I know you’re still awake.” Daniel didn’t respond to him, he just laid there with his eyes closed. Sean shook him gently, “Dude, come on. What’s wrong?” 

That was enough to make Daniel sit up and aggressively throw his blanket off of himself in an outrage. He wiped his eyes and sniffled again, “Are you seriously gonna ask me what's wrong? I probably killed three guys tonight!” he said, as if he didn't massacre an entire police force back in 2017.

Ahah that was right- that did happen. Sean reached over and turned the little lamp beside the couch on; much to Daniel’s dismay. “You didn’t kill them, alright? They were bad guys and they deserved what they got. It’s not your fault- you only did what you had to do.”

“I don’t want to have a stupid power anymore! And I don’t want to live in Mexico...I wish we could’ve just stayed with mom the whole time, or with Grandma and Grandpa.” Daniel complained. 

“We couldn’t have stayed with either of them. It was too dangerous for them AND us.” 

Daniel buried his head in his hands, “Everything is always too dangerous because of me!” 

“Dude you’re spiraling…”

“LET ME SPIRAL FOR JUST ONE SECOND. Jeez...” Daniel whisper-yelled. “Everything would’ve been fine if I wasn’t weird and stupid. I destroyed Damián's whole bar tonight...I SUCK. I just destroy everything even if I don’t want to.” 

“You saved our lives! I’m sure he would much rather have his life than have the bar. You've only ever done these things to survive.”

“I know-I know. You say that every time! But how is he gonna fix the bar? How is he gonna make money? What if I destroyed his life?”

“Since when do you even care about Damián? I thought he was yucky? He’s gonna be fine with all this, trust me Daniel. I just finished talking to him and he’s doing great.” 

Out of the blue Daniel started to weep again and he curled into a ball. Sean was very confused and didn’t know how to handle this? He looked to the camera for support but this was a Sean problem. 

Sean pat his back trying to be supportive. “What’s wrong now?”

“I don’t have anybody….” Daniel cried, hardly able to get his words out.

“What do you mean? Of course you got people...you’ve got me, you and Max are like best friends now, you’ve got mom and David too. Everyone loves you! Damián has hardly met you and he already thinks you’re cool as shit!” 

“No...I don’t have anybody.” Daniel repeated. “I don’t know anyone my own age anymore. I’ve got nobody. Max has Chloe...you have stupid Damián now...and I don’t have anyone. I miss Chris and Noah and my school friends, and you know...I even miss Sarah Lee. I’d fucking take Sarah Lee! I just want a friend again…" 

“Then...go out and get one, dude! All you do these days is stay at home- no wonder you feel lonely.”

Daniel pouted cuz that was really shitty advice and that sentence wouldn’t have made anyone feel better in this situation “There's not exactly a lot of kids living here. I already know everyone my age and they all suck.”

“I wish I knew how to help you…one day you’ll find someone like Max and Chloe, or...you know."

He rolled his eyes so far back into his head that he got tears in his brain. "Can you just leave me alone? I wanna wallow in my own self-pity until I fall asleep." Daniel said, promptly laying back down and kicking Sean with his clammy feet. "And if you guys are gonna bone; do it quietly and then kill me in the morning." Daniel huffed and pulled his blanket over his head.

Sean stood up from the couch and put his hands up. "Geez dude…okay. I'll leave you alone." It was hard for Sean to leave this situation, he really wanted to call Daniel out for acting like a brat, but that wouldn’t have been a nice thing to do since the brat was having such a rough night. He stood by the couch and looked at the lump of blanket Daniel had become. 

Sneakily, (but not really) Daniel poked his head out of the blanket to check if Sean was still there. "What are you waiting for? You're gonna kill the mood and then you'll end up like me: all alone."

"Yeah right...the mood died when Chloe said I shared a brain cell with the dirty rug on the floor. You don't need to worry about being 'traumatized' or whatever tonight...or well at least by...that stuff-"

"-Yeah...I get it, thanks??"

"I love you, enano. When you wake up tomorrow everything will be better. Cool?" 

Daniel, like a bitch, did not reply back; he just went right back under his blanket. That little man was simply inconsolable sometimes.

When Sean got to his bedroom door and was about to step in, Daniel peeped out of his blanket and quietly said, “Fine. I love you too.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like this so far: thank you. I don't really know if I'm doing all that well?


	13. one-night-stand-turned-witness-protection-program-partner and his dog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max has a very rough night dealing with the fact that she just used her power to stop fate from killing her friends. Sean and Daniel have hella beef when Daniel finds out that stupid Damián is going to be staying with them for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is kinda thicc. I think this was supposed to be two chapters but when I was color-coding my original document I used two shades of pink that were just a bit too similar. Idk if the average reader likes long chapters or short chapters more?

**

Max stood by the toilet in the bathroom twirling her toothbrush; hey eyes completely glazed over. “I haven’t used my power to alter things like life and death since twenty thirteen and-” Max’s words were cut off by a quick gasp of air, “and I feel a little bit anxious now. I use my power for petty things like when I say something stupid or stub my toe.” She bit her lip and started blubbering, “I think the universe takes direct offence when I save someone’s life.” Two perfect teardrops fell from her eyes in unison. 

**

MEanWhILe, Max and Chloe were sitting on top of Daniel’s loft bed, discussing what had just happened. Really, the only people who had a good night that night were Sean and Damián, but was it  **really** that good of a time? It was the dollar store version of a good time; Damián’s bar got blown up by his date’s little brother, and Sean’s little brother blew up his date’s bar. 

Chloe gently stroked her head and shushed her, “Dude, you only saved their lives once. I’m sure the universe will be fine with it. There won’t be a tornado again.” 

“Chloe...I don’t know? I said I didn’t want to mess with fate anymore- but I did!!” 

“You couldn’t just let them die- you did the right thing. This was probably just a fluke, and it’s not like those same guys will go after them again- Daniel definitely killed them.” 

Max nodded aggressively, “Oh yeah- those guys are definitely dead, but the universe will find a way to kill them again without those goons. Look at how many times you died!” 

“Maybe we could all get bulletproof jackets?” Chloe suggested.

“What if they get crushed by something? What if Sean gets run over by a car that he’s fixing? That could happen!” 

“Okay...we just won't let him near cars for a while…” 

“CHLOE HE’S A MECHANIC!!” Max said, beginning to freak out again. She was in a never ending cycle of panic; a roller coaster of panic if you will. 

“Max, you gotta calm down. If you gotta use your power to save them again- then you just gotta do that.”

“Or I could let them die…” 

Chloe did the  kombucha girl thing. “No. We just need to keep them safe. With Daniel on our team of fucked up superheroes  **nothing** bad will happen. I promise. Now let's just lay down and try to sleep. You’re hella tired right now and overthinking things.” 

Reluctantly, Max laid down and faced away from Chloe. Everything seemed fine. They both shut their eyes and tried to go to sleep. Many minutes had passed and neither of them were asleep yet. The bed moved as Max turned over and she came face to face with Chloe. Max was so adorable when she was sleeping, so Chloe went in to give her a lil kiss on the nose.

Right as Chloe’s lips touched her nose, Max’s eyes shot open really wide, “WHAT IF DANIEL DIES?! THEN WHAT!?” 

“Jesus.” 

It was now bright and early the next morning, Damián woke up first because what part of his life does he not have together? He shook Sean awake and Sean was not a similar early bird kinda guy. Ya boy woke up on the outside, but he was not there on the inside. It was time to go pick up Damián’s dog! Damián was so hyped for Sean to meet his dog; his dog was like his son, and he sure did want Sean to like his dog because if Sean didn’t like his dog- Damián didn’t like Sean anymore and this weird one-night-stand-turned-witness-protection-program-partner thing was OVER.. 

They got dressed in some clothes?? I don’t know what clothes?? And they snuck out into the living room. Sean was relieved to see that Daniel actually did get some sleep last night and was still asleep. He left a little note on the coffee table saying where he was going because Damián lived considerably far away. He lived in Puerto Libertad, man sure was dedicated to this unofficial relationship; driving forty minutes for a date and all. 

There's not much to say about their forty minute drive because there was mostly just sand, rocks and dust. They didn't pass anyone on the way there. It was a very uneventful ride I will say. The cameras were hardly used.   
  


The van came to a halt in front of a one story, boxy looking house. It was fairly far off from all the other houses they passed before, but it wasn't isolated. There was a nice palm tree in the front that gave a lot of shade. The house was a light orange color, and it had a really busted looking, wooden fence off to the side of it. The door was highly secured, Sean watched as Damián opened two separate doors with two locks each. If anyone tries to break into Damián’s house they gotta pick like 4 locks. Man knows how to secure a house. 

When Damián got the door open, forty pounds of pit-bull immediately jumped into his arms and wiggled around like a dying fish. Toro licked that man for all he was worth, you would've thought Damián had been gone a whole year. They had a nice father/son moment and hugged and kissed, and then Damián put him back on the ground and walked back to the van to let doggy into the backseat. Toro was very excited and could not contain it. The recording stopped there as the camera fell to the floor.

  
  


Back at home, the trouble gang, formerly known as the spy gang, was just waking up. Surprisingly, Max and Chloe slept decent in Daniel’s bed. Sleeping high up just hits differently than a regular bed sometimes; it must be the thrill of not knowing if you’re gonna fall off the bed in the night.

**

Chloe exited the bedroom and looked around for the two camera crew members, she looked confused.

“Uhh...yeah. We slept fine. Max eventually calmed down- and she must’ve slept pretty good cuz when she woke up she forgot where we were. I think waking up after being kidnapped one time really messed her up.” Chloe explained, “Anyway...I gotta piss and change into our last set of clean clothes. We really didn’t plan on spending three days in Mexico...but here we are.” Chloe said as she entered the bathroom.

**

After getting changed, Max and Chloe met in the hallway. They quietly tip-toed over to Sean’s wide open door to take a peek inside; no one was around. Chloe smirked and Max’s jaw dropped. 

“What if they got kidnapped, Chloe?” 

“Uhh. They didn’t get kidnapped. They’re probably just outside having the time of their lives and being in love. Unlike us...we’re inside panicking and being in love. I wanna be doing what they're doing.” Chloe said, guiding Max to the coffee maker in the kitchen. 

(You know...Max and Chloe really do be out here using all these appliances without permission. Neither Sean, nor Daniel ever agreed that either of the girls could make coffee or breakfast. If they pulled this kind of shit in the sims they would surely get kicked out.)

The sound of the coffee maker woke Daniel up from the couch. “Morning guys…” He sighed, flipping over onto his back and wincing in pain because the couch was THAT uncomfortable.

**

“Sean said that everything would be okay in the morning but uHA that was a fucking lie. I still feel like I got hit by a bus AND a plane. I feel just as shitty as I did when I went to sleep. Boycott Sean- he’s a big fat liar.” Daniel said on the couch. “I wish I was a bodiless entity who never felt pain or emotions.” 

The camera panned over to Max and Chloe awkwardly sipping their drinks and trying to avoid looking at him.

**

**

“I don’t know how my dad handled me as a teen? Daniel gets this attitude from me and that makes me feel sick and proud at the same time.” Sean said later in the day. “Sometimes I think about what life would’ve been like if the police weren’t corrupt...and honestly I feel like Daniel and I would’ve ended up killing dad on our own after a few years of just being ourselves.” He nodded guiltily, “That is awful. Don’t include that please.” 

**

  
  


“Is Sean up yet?” He asked.

“We have no clue what he’s doing or where he is, little man? Want some coffee??” Chloe asked, pouring her and Max some cups. 

“No, just puts me more to sleep.” He said, rubbing off the mess of crusty tears from his eyes. “Do you think Damián is with him? I hope not.” 

“Well, considering Damián isn’t still in bed I would assume they’re together. Also I think I heard some car doors not too long ago, maybe they went out to get food or…”

“-or make out. Yuck. I wish Damián would just leave Sean alone so he could act like a normal person.” Daniel sat up and brushed his hair back all stressed out, “After last night I don’t even wanna think about that guy anymore.” 

Chloe sipped her hot coffee and held her pinky out, “Fam, come on. If there's one good thing that came out of last night, it’s Damián.” 

“You’ll understand one day when you find someone you like.” Max said smiling sweetly, and wrapping her arm around Chloe’s waist. “They make everything better.”

Daniel blinked. “No way. Don’t want that.” 

Chloe waltzed over to the couch and plopped herself down, “Whaaat man?! Are you going through a tough breakup or something? Don’t believe in love anymore?”

Max almost dropped her coffee cup on the kitchen counter, “Chloe! You can’t just ask things like that! How would you feel?” 

“Relax Max...I’m trying to help a brother out!” Chloe said in poor defense. 

Max smacked her forehead and closed her eyes. She picked her coffee cup back up and chugged the whole thing. 

“It’s fine. Sean’s asked me even more awkward things before, so I’m used to it.” Daniel explained, very chill. “I just don’t really wanna date people, ya know. I’m more into friends and stuff...romance isn’t really my thing.” 

Chloe was somewhat confused, “You’ve never liked anyone?” 

Daniel shook his head unsurly, “Not really.” 

“You’ve never had a crush in your life man?!” Chloe asked, shocked. 

“I mean…I don’t know? Not really?” 

“Wow man, that is funky.” Chloe said.

Max headed on over to the couch gang with her eyebrows furrowed, “Sometimes people are just not interested in that stuff Chloe. There is nothing wrong with that at all.” 

Chloe held her hands up, “Not saying there's anything wrong with that! No way man, in this house we accept everyone- even the furries.” 

“-Furries are on thin fucking ice though.” Max stated. 

“Asexuals and aromantics are valid people who deserve love and respect.” Chloe added. 

**

It was later in the day when this was filmed, Daniel was in the backroom downstairs.

“Yeah I mean...I guess that’s what I’d call myself? I don’t know? Labels are constricting. It really sucks because Sean always talks about people he likes and I just can’t relate to him about any of it. Like, I don’t get how he can just find a random person at a bar, sleep with them, and then like them? I would need to know for sure that I was gonna die the next day in order to do something like that.”

The camera man said something.

“I know that sounds extreme, I just feel like I would take a really, really, really long time to even consider having feelings for someone. Sean and I are pretty different when it comes to dating and that's okay. He was so excited when I told him I was gonna try hanging out with Rey that one time, he kinda did what Chloe did and he got me all dressed up and stuff. Then he gave me all these tips and stuff on how to flirt- like as if he knows how to! It was just...weird.”

Daniel spun around in the spinny chair. 

“All in all though, if I was ever gonna date anyone here it would probably be Rey...but that can’t happen now, but also that’s okay because screw romance- I wanna do Daniel things all by myself. Now that I’m on TV, I wanna start my own brand called Daniel. Don’t ask me any questions about my brand cuz it’s still a work in progress. Check back soon.”

He snapped his fingers and pushed himself backwards in the chair, not realizing it was on the carpet. Him and the chair fell.

**

Just then, two loud voices and little tippy-tappy footsteps came up the stairs. It was Sean and Damián and Toro the dog!! :D Everyone turned to face them and Daniel’s face immediately went from mildly embarrassed to STUNNED. 

Toro walked right up to everyone by the couch and started sniffing everything and wagging his butt with excitement. He leaped right up onto the couch and Chloe struggled to protect her coffee. 

“A DOG?! WHO ARE YOU?!” Daniel shouted excitedly as the dog began licking his probably very salty face. 

“That’s Damián’s dog, Toro.” Sean said, scrambling to clean all the old food and garbage from the coffee table and the floor. “Damián thought it would be a good idea for his dog to come visit us for a while.”

Daniel loved Toro already and he fully forgot everything he hated about Damián. Why did he even hate Damián? He didn’t know anymore. 

_ “Ayyy! Heard somebody likes dogs!”  _ Cheered Damián entering the couch gang scene like the coolest dude ever. 

_ “I like dogs…” _ Daniel said, squinting his eyes suspiciously at Damián while petting Toro. The sight of Damián made Daniel remember why he hated Damián. 

_ “He’s the nicest dog you’ll ever meet- AND he knows a bunch of tricks.”  _

While Damián made Toro get down on the floor and do some tricks to impress Daniel, Sean pulled the girls aside and made them huddle around him. 

“Guys on a scale from one to ten, how mad do you think Daniel will be now that Damián is gonna be staying with us for a while?” 

“Ten.” 

“Eleven.” 

“What about with the dog.”

“Sean, those scores were including the dog.” 

Sean kicked his foot into the floor and huffed. “Damn. Do you think that maybe he won't notice he’s here?”

“Unlike you, the little twerp has two eyes that work pretty good.” Chloe said. 

The three of them turned to look at DTD (Daniel Toro Damián) and they appeared to be having a great time. Toro was shaking Daniel’s hand and spinning around.

“Well, how long is he gonna be staying?” Max asked, bringing the circle back together. 

Sean hesitated to answer, “If things go well…” He rubbed his chin in though, “forever?” 

“Yeah man, Daniel is definitely gonna notice eventually that Damián hasn’t left in forty years.” Chloe said, matter of factly.

Things seemed to be going really well now that the dog was here. Daniel was having a conversation with Damián about the history of Toro, and eventually the topic changed over to the history of Damián. 

_ “How did you buy a bar? Is it hard to do?”  _ Daniel asked. 

Damián shrugged with his hands in his pockets,  _ “I just did it, you know. Made a friend here and thought it would be cool to help him start a business, I don’t actually own the bar- I just invest.”  _

_ “Are you mad that I...broke the bar?”  _

_ “Pfft, I’ve got a bunch of jobs. I’ll be okay.”  _ Damián said nonchalantly.  _ “Oh plus, I’m gonna be staying here for a while and helping out. Gonna have lots of time to rebuild it!” _

Sean heard this and he cautiously spun around to witness Daniel’s reaction. The girls didn’t understand what was going on but they were able to sense what just happened.

Daniel’s face twisted and he stopped petting the beloved, unproblematic, amazing, lovable, sweet dog.  _ “You’re staying here?”  _ He asked rather aggressively.

Damián looked to Sean and Sean was blank. 

**

“I was hoping that Daniel just wouldn’t ever notice that Damián came to visit once and then never left...I don’t know why I thought that would just fly past him?” Sean said.

**

Somehow Damián got a message from this silence.

With uncertainty in his eyes, Damián turned his ass back around to meet Daniel again,  _ “Yes. I’m staying for a bit? I’m gonna be living here...with you guys.” _ He said, hoping that what he said was what Sean telepathically told him to say.

That was not what Sean had telepathically told him to say. 

_ “Does the dog get to stay?”  _ Daniel asked, curiously. 

_ “Of course.”  _

_ “Will you do chores here?”  _

_ “Yes- for sure! I’d love to help out! Anything for you guys.”  _

_ “Mmm...well okay, there's a lot to clean here. You could start by taking over doing the dishes I was supposed to do all week.”  _

Damián looked around the room to see where he could start,  _ “Uhm where are the dishes?” _

_ “Literally everywhere. There are so many of them they basically camouflage themselves. I told you I missed a week’s worth of dishes...” _

_ “DANIEL! You can’t use my bo-him- my him- you can’t use him as your slave!” _ Sean stuttered angrily.  _ “And you left those dishes for a whole week?!” _

Daniel scoffed and resumed loving the dog. Danny was dead-ass about to use Damián as free labor and Sean really didn’t like this attitude. He whipped off his sandal and launched that sucker right at Daniel’s face, and like a coward, Daniel shielded his head from the attack, let out an ungodly scream, and threatened to throw it right back. 

_ “Wow okay. If you’re gonna be like that then you gotta help him do shit-  _ AND Max and Chloe get to sleep in your bed again tonight. _ ”  _

Daniel’s jaw dropped and he held his hand out, “Wha-? That's not fair! The couch sucks man…I think I dislocated my spin last night!”

In the background Max and Chloe gave each other a knuckle-bump and Max mouthed the words ‘score’!

“If you help him around the house today you’ll get your own bed back tonight.” Sean said.

Max and Chloe revoked their knuckle-bump and prayed hard for Daniel to keep being a little bitch so they could get his bed again.

“I’ve got a lot of work to do today and I don’t want to deal with this anymore. Maybe if you actually get to know Damián, you’ll like him.” 

Under his breath he muttered, “Doubt.” 

__ With force, Sean took his sandal and put it back on. He gestured for the girls to follow him downstairs to open up the shop for the day. I guess no one was really gonna be running the counter today. Max and Chloe gave Toro a little pat-pat on the head and bounced off downstairs with Sean, leaving DTD alone upstairs. 

Well, well, well...how the turn tables. Daniel and Damián looked at each other awkwardly, neither one knowing where to start. To be quite honest, Damián looked pretty scared of Daniel. The first Spanish words Daniel learnt were all swear words, obviously. 

**

Damián stood at the kitchen sick while Daniel laid sprawled out on the couch in the background.

_ “I think I might have made a mistake back there...I.”  _ Damián paused, _ “I didn’t understand what Sean meant by ‘don’t tell Daniel’ I thought he meant like, ‘Don’t tell Daniel about the dog.’ or maybe ‘don’t tell Daniel that we left.’ but looking back at that now- I mean- I told him about the dog right away, and Sean left him a note about leaving, and he didn’t say anything about either of those things. I think I really messed this up. AND NOW- he is going to kill me...”  _ Damián whispered with wide eyes. He fearfully looked behind him _. _

Daniel piped up in the background, “ _ I won’t kill you in front of the dog. I want Toro to like me still.”  _ He said, petting the dog gently.

Damián turned back to face the camera,  _ “Don’t leave me alone with him…please I beg.” _

**


	14. Quality Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max, Chloe, and Sean all work in the shop, leaving DTD alone with each other- and that is like leaving a big scary wolf with a dumb-ass mountain goat.

Commence the super cool work day montage with some super fun rockin' tunes playing in the back. If it feels like we did this same shit yesterday it's because we did. We did this same exact thing, and you know what, we’ll probably do it again the next work day. It was back to the stupid Chloe Price franken-truck; Sean got right to work. 

Today Max was Chloe's helper, and she wandered around the shop looking for things to bring to Chloe. It was a very stressful job for her because she didn't know what any of the tools were and Chloe was bad at describing them. She felt LOTS of pressure standing between a legit mechanic and a bootleg mechanic who was hot and also her girlfriend. 

Quick summary of the day in the shop before we head back to DTD, Chloe and Max had to deal with one client in Spanish and the only Spanish they knew was sadly from Dora, but hey…at least watching Dora as kids finally paid off sorta. During their lunch break they sat on the driveway out front because it was shaded and ate some of those lazy pre-packaged sandwiches again. Sean worried about how Daniel and Damián were doing all day, it was driving him crazy, but he wasn't about to go up and check on them, his reasoning being “If they're doing good I'll probably just wreck it by interrupting. If they're doing bad I don't want to be a part of that shit.” The girls agreed that staying away was the best thing to do. When it was time to get back to work Max decided that she no longer wanted to be Chloe's helper, she just wanted to take pictures of everyone!!

Of course Max took pictures of Sean and Chloe all greasy and dirty in the shop, it was super cute. She got a real nice one of Chloe in action trying to get him to pose. It made Max happy. Big happy. Chloe was such a lively treat most of the time. Then Max went outside and wandered around on the beach taking pictures of all the cool rocks and shells she found everywhere. She also took a selfie with a seagull who was surprisingly friendly and calm. She called him Ben. 

All in all, they had a very uneventful time in the shop, occasionally posing for Max's pictures and swearing about not being able to fix the damn vehicles.    
  


Now...DTD. This was extremely awkward. Daniel sat on the couch with his hands under his legs, and Damián idled beside the couch rocking back and forth. Toro was a very well behaved dog so he just minded his own business. This silence lasted far too long, the cameraman occasionally zoomed when they made even a morsel of eye contact.

_ "So…"  _ Damián started,  _ "Wanna hear more dog stories?"  _

This was ultimately what started their best day EVER!!! Of course Daniel was interested in hearing his stories; Daniel really liked Toro. Damián started right from the beginning three years ago, when he found Toro locked in a cage behind a really suspicious building, he never found out what that building was, and maybe that was for the best.

_ “So I went into this alleyway because it sounded like something was crying, and what do you know- I see a cage right away and there's a little puppy in it! Who leaves a puppy in a cage, IN THE RAIN?!”  _

Daniel starred at Damián, fascinated,  _ “That is insane...what did you do next!?” _

_ “I went up to the cage and the poor dog started whimpering even more, and I noticed that it’s paw was caught in between the bars of the cage. Naturally, I tried to open the cage, but the lock was jammed and I couldn’t get it open. I didn’t have much time because lurking around in alleyways is one of the worst things you could do, and there were footsteps coming, and I knew that I couldn’t just leave him stuck in there- so I took the whole cage and ran.” _

_ “Wow…that is so badass. Where did you go?” _

Damián explained more.  _ “Well, I didn’t really have anywhere to go because at the time I was living with my best friend from high school, and things got really messy with him and I had to get out of that house. I had about fifty bucks on me and my bag of tools. I used to do a lot of freelance projects for people, things like painting, making jewelry, sometimes clothing, and other things. I didn’t have a lot of money, so I’d stay in motels, sometimes outside, but tonight because of the rain and the dog- I had to find shelter.” _

_ “That sounds kind of like Sean and I. We used to be homeless too, in America. We needed to do weird jobs and they all sucked. Did you find a motel? oH I HATE motels.” _

_ "Yes, thankfully. I was able to find a motel in the outskirts of the city that was super cheap, but I didn't pay. I checked inside to see if anyone was working there and the person so I picked one of the locks and opened up a room." _

Daniel covered his mouth with his hands in shock. 

**

“Not to be like...a hypocrite or something, but Damián is actually kinda the coolest person I know. And I know myself. Like, he does all the same shit I do, only he doesn’t even need a power to do it.” Daniel said, sounding impressed. 

**

_ “I usually respect the law and all that, but this night was different. I needed a safe place to look after the dog. Breaking into a motel room to nurse a scared puppy should not be a crime.” _

Daniel nodded and gave him a finger gun.  _ “Agreed.” _

He continued on, _ “The motel room was pretty barren, it had a bed, a night stand, some lamps, a table and chairs, all that stuff you know. It smelt awful- like cat piss, but I had no other options. I made sure to secure the door, just in case, and then I sat down with the cage and tried to wiggle it open again, but it was stuck so bad. I looked in my bad and luckily I had these pliers from when I made jewelry, and I mean...it wasn’t the best, but-” _

_ "Did it work?!" _

_ "DUH! Of course it worked- I got the dog right here! With the pliers I was able to open the cage door and I just scooped the puppy out of the cage and he sat right on my lap. Oh god did Toro smell- UGH like the worst dog you’ve ever smelt. I had to give him a bath right away, and that was where I got his name.” _ Damián started to laugh,  _ “He was running from one end of the tub to the other and headbutting. into. everything. So I named him Toro because he was like a _ bull _. I had to sleep with a wet dog that night and that seems awful, but I loved him already, and now he is like my son. My dog son.” _

Daniel shifted around on the couch excitedly because he was about to unleash his cool dog story as well.  _ “I rescued a dog once too. From a convenience store! It was a super crazy night too, maybe just as crazy as your night? Sean got kidnapped by a racist old man and I blew up the store.”  _ Daniel explained casually, the camera panned over to Damián’s concerned expression. _ “I LOVE dogs. OoH and wolves- Sean and I are wolves. I’m Superwolf and he’s Stupidwolf.”  _

_ “Stupidwolf? Come on...that’s a little mean.”  _

Daniel looked at him intensely, “ _ He’s letting Chloe call me magic fart, I think Stupidwolf is allowed.”  _

_ “Why do you get to be Superwolf? I think Sean is equally super.” _

_ “I got the power- duh. Sean and I started calling ourselves the wolf brothers a few years ago; it’s our thing now.”  _

_ “Can I be a wolf too?”  _

Daniel narrowed his eyes and looked offended,  _ “No way. You gotta earn the title of wolf. Right now you’re a...mOUntAin gOat.” _

_ “Ah- A mountain goat? What?! I think I’m more of a...jaguar or something. I’m fast and agile, and I’m pretty sneaky too. I’m not a  _ **_freaking_ ** _ mountain goat.” _

Daniel shook his finger, “Tsk.  _ That's something a mountain goat would say. Plus, jaguars are cats and wolves are dogs- and I am never letting my brother date a cat. Especially not a cat with polka-dots.”  _

Damián’s eyes shifted to the cameraman and the cameraman didn’t know what to do?? They took this whole ‘animal’ thing too far and it was starting to sound too much like a furry fan-fiction. And it has already been established: furries are on thin fucking ice. 

_ “Alright then...guess I’ll be a mountain goat.”  _

After that, Daniel reached into the pocket of his sweatpants and pulled out a folded piece of paper. It was a page from Sean’s first sketchbook that of course had two wolves on it. This was one of Daniel’s most prized possessions that he had been carrying around in his pocket for years. 

_ “I’m gonna get this tattooed one day when Sean says I can.”  _

Damián nodded like an awkward babysitter,  _ “That's gonna be sick, tattoos hurt a lot though, are you gonna be cool with that?” _

_ “I’ve been shot in the same shoulder twice- I think I can handle it.”  _

Now, this was probably a bad thing for Damián to say, but he really wanted Daniel to like him so he said it anyway.  _ “I could totally take you into town one day and pay for it all. I know a guy.”  _

And that was that; Damián got himself into a really messy promise and he looked really guilty, but at least Daniel liked him now. Sean was going to be very mad when this came up again. 

Time passed and DTD began doing the chores around the house and hunting for hidden garbage. Sean and Daniel lived like absolute slobs, while Daniel was cleaning underneath the couch he found things he had never even seen before. Which one of them bought a worm on a string and why was it under the couch? Daniel put that shit in his pocket for later, it was blue and he liked it a lot; it was his now. 

Much to Damián's surprise he pulled a black bra out from behind the fridge and held it up in disgust. It was covered in dust and mysteriously soggy. He looked to Daniel for answers and Daniel telekinesisted it over to himself and tossed it out the open living room window. They weren't gonna talk about that, but Damián assumed that it didn't belong to the boys. 

Eventually they got sick of cleaning in silence, and Daniel decided to unleash his music taste- which was absolutely bonkers. All his playlists were just synth-rock and rave music; this kid's brain never stopped and he needed music to keep up to it. One of his favorite groups was Rey Pila, heck- maybe that was why his ex-friend Rey was his favorite person, and he had actually seen them in concert once. It was actually a pretty interesting story, so before they turned any music on, Daniel told the entire story to Damián. 


	15. Daniel's memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously, we were left with DTD and Daniel was about to start spilling his beans about this one time he went to a concert. Well...here we are. Daniel's got a long ass story to tell.

January 20th 2022 

Daniel slammed his essay down on the kitchen counter while Sean aggressively washed the dishes. You know what really sucks sometimes? Having to spend every day for the past five years with your brother. 

“Seriously?! I wrote you an essay- IN FULL SPANISH-  **and** I made you and Izabella supper tonight,  **and** you still won’t let me go to the concert tomorrow?! I ask for one thing. ONE THING!” Daniel shouted, throwing his hands up in frustration. 

“We just don’t have that kind of money!” 

“I’ll pay you back! It’s like...not that much for four people, five if you wanna-”

“No! I don’t wanna go, and where the hell are you gonna make money like that? I’m your fucking employer.”

“I get tips sometimes for just like...being cute and stuff- I don’t know?! Plus, I already have kind of a lot of money saved up. Please let me go...I already told all my friends that we could go.” Daniel begged.

“No. Stop talking about it. Tell your friends tomorrow that this is not gonna happen. End of story.” 

Daniel groaned loudly, and it was clearly making Sean very irritated, “Just say you don’t trust me already and stop trying to sugar coat everything like you always do.”

Sean whipped his dish towel over his shoulder and stood with his hands on his hips, “Fine. You’re right; I don’t trust you to go out late at night with your friends. It’s because you’re an irresponsible little brat sometimes!” 

His mouth fell open in disbelief, he put his hands on his hips in a mocking fashion, “Where do you think I learned that from…Mr. ‘Izabella needs to drive me home everytime I leave the house because I always get wayyy too drunk to do anything.’ You’re like, ten times worse than me.” 

Now Daniel fully expected Sean to retaliate by yelling at him some more about why he couldn’t go to the concert, but instead Sean just stood there looking at him. It was like a jump-scare waiting to happen, watching anger brew behind Sean’s eyes. But he didn’t do anything. 

“...jeez did I say something true?”

“Go to your room.”

“Why? I wanna stay out here-”

“Just…” Sean started, his foot tapping madly on the ground as he tried to compose himself enough to continue. “Go. Leave me alone, alright? I don’t wanna deal with you right now.” 

Daniel rolled his eyes as he stomped off to his room. Truth be told, he always knew in the back of his head that Sean would be totally against this; their relationship the past few months had been terrible. Ever since Izabella came along Sean hadn’t been acting like himself. He drank  **so** much more than he used to, and Izabella just encouraged him to keep doing that. She called it _ ‘the best unhealthy coping mechanism’ _ and Daniel had to disagree with that. 

He slammed the door behind him, climbed up onto his bed and sat underneath his covers. Daniel really hated Sean right then; this was one of his only chances to make his friend group really like him. But now, because of Sean, he had to go into school and tell the other three that no one was gonna be going to the concert. Lets just say he did not sleep well that night.

January 21st, 2022

The next day at school sucked major ass. Daniel’s friends usually hung around the dumpsters behind the school building. They liked to be edgy like that; others called them the dumpster group. 

He had three friends, Emilio, Natalia, and Rey. Emilio and Natalia had been dating for about a year now and holy shit did Daniel think they were annoying. They were that kind of couple. Despite them being the king and queen of PDA, they were actually the reason Daniel and Rey were able to bond. Rey used to be Emilio's best friend, but now that Emilio was full on obsessed with Natalia, Rey had no one to talk to in the group. Daniel wasn’t gonna complain about having a bro to hang with though. At this point he would hang out with anyone just to get away from Sean.

Everyone looked at him happily expecting their tickets; Daniel felt like drowning himself in the ocean. He showed them his empty hands and all their smiles faded. 

_ “What the fuck man? You said you’d have them!”  _ Emilio grumbled, jumping off the top of the dumpster. 

Daniel shrugged,  _ “Sorry guys-”  _

_ “I told my mom I wasn’t gonna be coming home tonight, what am I supposed to tell her now?”  _ Nat said, very pissed. __

Like the dudey-est dude bro ever, Emilio got all close to her at the dumpster and wrapped his hands around her waist,  _ “Chill out. We’ll go to my place, your mom’ll never know.”  _

Daniel and Rey exchanged an uncomfortable cringe. 

Breaking the awkward relationship giggles, Rey said,  _ “See, it doesn’t even matter if we can’t go because you guys still get to hang out! Problem solved.”  _

Emilio whipped his head around,  _ “Uh, not really! Daniel promised a concert and now we don’t get one. He literally messes up all of our plans every single time.” _

He placed his hands on the back of his head in frustration, at this point in his life, Daniel still had a lot of issues translating in his head, so any sort of clap back was hard to come up with on the spot. He just felt really shitty about himself all the time. 

_ “Hey...come on. It’s not his fault, at least he tried.”  _ Rey said. 

_ “It was gonna be sooo cool though! It sucks just having to be at home.”  _ Natalia said.  _ “You’re older brother sucks, Em. He’s so nosy.”  _

This made Daniel remember what he was gonna be going home to in the evening: Izabella. Sean told him in the morning that tonight he was going to be working late and that meant that he would be alone upstairs with Izabella. And he would do anything to get away from her. 

_ “Guys wait. I have an idea...how about we sneak into the concert place?”  _ Daniel suggested.  _ “I mean we all still really wanna go, so let's just do it.”  _

Rey’s jaw dropped,  _ “Nu-uh! That’s not worth getting caught-” _

_ “SHHH! This is interesting.”  _ Emilio interrupted,  _ “How are we gonna sneak in?” _

Daniel shook his head,  _ “I normally just come up with things as I go…” _

Rey’s jaw dropped further and he gawked,  _ “You don’t even have a plan!?” _

_ “Honestly, I’m in. I have been dying to get out of this shitty place for the night.”  _ Natalia said, getting onto her feet. 

_ “If she’s in I’m in!”  _ Emilio replied.

Everyone looked to Rey, who was sitting on the ground staring blankly at the three of them.

_ “I can drive us.”  _ Daniel mentioned, knowing full well he had only ever driven badly with Sean to the store down the road. 

Emilio and Nat gave him high fives and it made him feel inexplicably excited. This is what it felt like to be one of the cool kids. 

_ “So are you coming or not?” _ Asked Em.

Rey took one last look at Daniel before standing up,  _ “Fine, yeah. I’m coming.”  _ He sighed loudly. __

The four of them discussed where they would be meeting, and then had a big group hug before parting ways for class. Oh god...what had Daniel gotten himself into? He felt like he was gonna piss himself the rest of the school day.

January 21st, 2022 (Evening)

Eight pm rolled around and the master plan was about to be set into action. The sun had just set over the horizon and Daniel was all dressed and ready to go; he just needed to wait for Sean to get drunk with Izabella and go to bed early like he did every Friday night. Again, I am not about to explicitly state that Sean used to be on the border between ‘casual drinker’ and ‘alcoholic’...but man, times were really tough. 

The second Daniel heard the bedroom door close he booked it out of the house and got the van started outside. This was the first time he was ever gonna be driving the van alone and BOY WAS IT AMBITIOUS FOR HIS FIRST TIME!

With his back hunched and both hands firmly on the wheel, Daniel drove to Emilio's house where everyone would be waiting. He had to keep telling himself to breathe and that nothing bad would happen...nothing bad would happen…

His friends all scrambled out the house and ran to the van. Things felt a lot more relaxed when everyone hopped in and started praising him. It was like he had just won a super great award; an award for being the baddest bad boy that ever was a bad boy ever. Yeah! Daniel felt pretty cool. However, the desert was getting very dark, and they still had an hour long drive ahead of them. 

_ “So...are there gonna be actual bouncers there?”  _ Rey asked. He was sitting in the front seat with Daniel since the back seats were reserved for the other two. Explanation not needed.

_ “Probably.”  _

Rey nodded,  _ “Um...how are we gonna sneak past them? This is kinda risky.” _

Daniel shrugged,  _ “Well...I think we’ll be fine,”  _ he replied. That was a lie.  _ “bouncers-shmouncers! They can’t do anything to stop us.”  _ That was also a fucking lie.  _ “When we get there we will scope the whole place out. It’ll be totally safe.” _

Rey gave a weak smile and looked down into his lap,  _ “If you say so. Hypothetically though, if we get caught...what are we gonna do?”  _

_ “The four of us will run really, really fast and go to the nearest food place that's still open. Cuz they can’t catch all four of us if we run really fast.”  _

Rey looked out of the window for the rest of the ride; ya boy was over thinking all his life decisions right about now. Rightfully so, have any of Daniel’s plans ever worked out? 

  
  


The venue building was nothing too special, it was a super casual nightclub sorta thing. They parked across the street in the empty grocery store parking lot because the actual nightclub parking lot was PACKED and Daniel didn’t know how to navigate that; he legally did not know how to drive. 

Like scared little fifteen year old children, the four of them exited the van and began crossing the street. For once in his life Daniel was the leader and he did not know how to handle this much power. Maybe Sean was right and he was in fact a little kid who shouldn’t be doing things like this, but it was far too late now...the godforsaken wolves popped up at the bottom of the screen.

They all stood a safe distance away from the venue doors and began to discuss their plan. Music was blasting from inside and man oh man Daniel just wanted to get in there already and lose his fucking marbles. The band slapped so hard!!

_ “Daniel, what are we doing?”  _ Emilio asked while doing a weird little waggle dance with Natalia.

_ “Uhhh…”  _ Daniel mumbled, madly analyzing the area for a possible entry route.  _ “How about one of us distracts the bouncer to buy time while the rest of us head around to the back to look for another door?”  _

Everyone nodded along.

_ “Alright, who’s gonna be the distraction?”  _ Emilio asked.

No one said anything because of course no one was going to volunteer to talk to the bouncer. 

Finally Natalia spoke up,  _ “I think Rey should go. He looks the oldest here because of his mustache.”  _

Embarrassed, Rey covered his mouth with his hand,  _ “Yeah, my stupid ugly mustache! Stop talking about it...I look like I molest children…” _

_ “HA! Rey molests children!”  _ Emilio laughed, giving Rey a good slap on the back. 

Forcefully, Natalia pushed him towards the street,  _ “Just do it you adult sized baby!”  _

As much as he didn’t want to,  _ “I’ll do it.” _

_ “Daniel, you literally look like you just came out of the womb.”  _ Emilio said.

_ “And what about it? I’m baby. Move on.”  _ Daniel said, ushering them across the street.

Daniel felt like w i d e Putin as he crossed the street. It was like he forgot how to walk normally. The bouncer seemed to get larger and larger as he got closer to the hefty man blocking the door. Literally no one was waiting in line to get in, so he had no time to come up with anything.

He cleared his throat before poking the man on the shoulder,  _ “Hi sir-”  _ He started, but the bouncer cut him off.

_ “Get lost kid. Don’t even try.” _

Daniel was taken aback by the man’s response. He panicked,  _ “Actually...my mom is in there. She left me in the car.”  _ He explained, playing with his fingers, that was the signal. 

_ “Your mom is in there?”  _

The other three ran across the road and into the alleyway leading to the back. Daniel nodded at the man.

_ “Yup! I gotta go in there and get her because...uh, she needs to go home at a certain time.”  _

_ “Pfft, she needs you to tell her the time? Doesn’t she have a phone? Or a watch?”  _

Daniel’s eyes followed his friends as they disappeared behind the brick wall.  _ “She accidentally left her phone at home. Also I really need to use the washroom so I need her to come out and take me home.”  _

_ “Can’t you just pee in a bush like a man?”  _

_ “Uhhhh...no.”  _ He said, panicking harder.  _ “It’s kind of a number two you know..? I can't just do that in the middle of the street.”  _ Daniel did not think that he would ever be telling a bouncer that he needed to poop.  _ “Listen, I just want to get my mom in there.” _

_ “Not a chance. How old are you even?”  _ The bouncer asked, eyeing him up and down,  _ “Like thirteen? I could lose my job if I let you in there.” _

Just then, Natalia poked her head around the wall and motioned for Daniel to abandon his position. 

_ “Uhhh!!!”  _ He stuttered,  _ “PLEASE I WANT MY MOM! Please please please please please can you go get my mom?!”  _ He begged, shaking his hands together, really trying to hammer home the fact that he needed his fake mom. Dignity? Gone. Vanished. Never to be seen again. “HELP ME!!”

The bouncer was clearly put off by this childish behavior, and he was quite frankly embarrassed to be seen with this child.  _ “For fuck’s sake kid- get it together! People are gonna think I’m trying to kidnap you!”  _ He said, doing his best to suppress the ungodly noises, _ “What does your mom look like..?”  _

The tension in Daniel’s shoulders eased up,  _ “Well...she's got a purple shirt on, some jean shorts, and uhh...glasses. Yeah. You’ll know her when you see her.”  _

He turned around skeptically,  _ “You better stay right here kid...and what’s your name? I gotta remember you.” _

When Sean and Daniel first got to Mexico, they had to get fake ID’s because, ya kno, wanted criminal tingz. So, Daniel used the name on his fake ID.  _ “Denny Decker.”  _ He had to hold himself back from snorting after saying it. It was a blessing and a curse of a name and he was very sad to have abandoned it a few years ago. 

Then the bouncer went into the building and Denny Decker sprinted for his life to catch up with his friends again. While he was busy being a "thirteen year old in desperate need to take a shit", the group had found a backdoor that looked into the bathrooms. The only problem was: it was locked. 

_ “Maybe we could smash the door knob off with something? I think I saw an old fire hydrant sitting in one of the trash bags over there?”  _ Emilio suggested, rocking on his feet trying to settle his nerves. 

_ “That's gonna be way too loud.” _ Daniel said.  _ “How about you guys go look for-”  _

But he had to stop that sentence right there because the bouncer’s voice boomed from the distance. The four of them started running around like headless chickens trying to decide what to do. Emilio heroically ran for the fire hydrant and slammed it onto the door knob; it didn’t break. He tried it again and again, and now there were footsteps coming to the back of the building. Without thinking Daniel just used his power to break the knob. Emilio was shocked that he himself was able to break the knob.

There was no time to celebrate, the gang ran inside the venue and shut the door behind them. They all piled into the mens washroom and took a breath. Luckily no one was inside at this time, so they were able to discuss what just happened.

_ “Did you guys see that?! I broke down the door just in time!”  _ Emilio exclaimed, whipping the sweat off his neck.

Daniel chose not to comment on that. 

Rey was holding onto his chest and breathing heavily,  _ “What do we do if the bouncer finds us?”  _

_ “Ugh, relax! You used to be fun Rey…now you’re always worried.”  _

_ “Em, this is kind of a stressful situation, give him a break. I’m anxious too and I’m the one who came up with the idea.”  _ Daniel explained.  _ “How about we just go out there and enjoy the music now? Maybe it’ll help us ease up.” _

_ “You’re right, you’re right. Sorry Rey.”  _ Emilio said, taking Natalia by the hand.  _ “We’re gonna try to get some drinks too, you guys want any?”  _

Daniel shook his head,  _ “I gotta drive us home, I can’t do that many illegal things in one night.”  _

Rey shook his head as well. 

_ “Suit yourselves. We’re gonna get waaasted”  _ Emilio said, exiting the washroom with Nat. 

_ “Looks like it’s just us.” _ Daniel said, looking to Rey who was looking pretty distraught about the whole situation.  _ "Glad I didn't spend the money trying to get them tickets." _

Daniel didn’t want to lose the others because he knew that it was important to stick together during a time like this, so he grabbed Rey’s hands and dragged him onto the dance floor. He pushed through the crowd and used Rey as a human shield a few times, all in good fun though, and they made it right up to the front of the stage. It was fuckin party time!!!! 

Hand in hand, Daniel and Rey spun around the dance floor like water draining in a toilet bowl. Rey had the time of his life because Daniel was always a hoot to party with. Like Madonna once said, “Girls just wanna have fun.” and right now...Daniel was girls. 

Natalia and Emilio stayed near them but they honestly didn’t give a shit about the music or dancing; they had other plans, but to each their own. As long as neither one of them were trying to get freaky with him, Daniel was cool with them. He was cool with everyone else dating, just not Sean. He hated everyone that Sean dated. Ya boy had lots of pent up rage because of Izabella and he needed to dance that shit out with Rey. 

Fun is always short lived here ain't it.

While the boys were spinning around like girls in toilet water, Daniel accidentally rammed into someone and knocked them over. Daniel and Rey both looked at each other in shock and went to help the fallen man up from the floor. That was not a good idea though. 

The man came up from the ground,  _ “Who the fuck let two children into here?! Watch what you’re doing you little shits!”  _ he said aggressively as he towered over the boys, starting to close in on them. Without warning the man grabbed Rey by the collar of his shirt and yanked him really hard towards the floor. 

REY WAS ABOUT TO DIE. Daniel’s fight or flight mode was activated and he didn’t know what to do, so he was on flight mode. He grabbed Rey's arm and pulled him away with all his might. This however, made the man even angrier than before. Also, “ What do you have?” “A KNIFE!!” “ NO!!!” Rey ran away from the fight as quickly as he could but Daniel could not because now the man had him at knife point and was D R A G G I N G him out of the venue. A small price to pay for saving your friend. 

He tried to push through the people on the dancefloor but the man was much bigger than him; a fifteen year old pipsqueak. The bouncer was literally nowhere to be seen, this was some seriously shitty luck. The man threw him to the street and Daniel hit his tailbone really hard. 

Is this unreasonable? I am not sure? But who’s telling the story? Me. The man got on top of him and started spewing threats rights and left about how little kids shouldn’t be sneaking around in places they aren’t allowed and that  _ “You need to learn some manners.” _ and shit. Daniel tried to apologise profusely, but it was no use. This man literally had him by the throat. Sir, you need to calm down. Daniel thought he was about to be beaten senseless so obviously he had to use a lil bit of that telekinesis. Only a lil bit, cuz sometimes it's useful for when you wanna pretend you can kick really hard. 

While "Mr. Held a knife to a child" clutched his stomach and flopped over on the road, Daniel and Rey ran away from the scene as fast as possible and into the nearest Subway. Tip: bad guys can’t catch you if you go into Subway. Tip: Don’t listen to the author, they don’t know what they’re talking about. Tip: I know everything.

  
  


January 21st, 2022 (Night Time)

They munched their subs on the sidewalk across the street. Adapt and survive. They completely forgot about Emilio and Natalia. Life was better without them.

_ “Sean would be so mad at me right now!” _ Daniel giggled, licking the meat ball sauce off his face.

_ “My parents would probably disown me if they knew I was out here.”  _ Rey said.

Daniel tried to laugh at that but it didn’t feel like a very good joke for some reason. He nodded awkwardly. 

_ “I kinda feel like my parents would disown me for a lot of things though.”  _

_ “Nahhh…”  _ Daniel said,  _ “you’re like, a super good kid all the time. You can do one bad thing every once-in-a-while.”  _

They continued eating their subs in silence and watched all the passing cars on the street. Rey eventually took out his phone and texted the other two or at least that's what Daniel assumed he did. 

_ “I kinda wish we just hung out at your place tonight instead of coming here.”  _

Daniel almost spit out his sandwich,  _ “No way. Sean’s got his girlfriend over again and I am getting so sick of her. Just the sight of her...makes me wanna rip my eyes out. Plus, there's nothing to do back home, the house is so lame. We'd literally be trapped in my room the whole night cuz of Izabella.”  _

_ “What do you mean? Your room is the coolest place on earth!”  _

_ “Technically you’re right about that; I have a bed that requires a ladder, and beds that are off the ground are the superior kind of beds.” _

Rey laughed and scooted closer so that their shoulders were touching. Daniel took that as an invitation to ram into Rey’s side. That wasn’t exactly what Rey wanted but hey man, what else could you expect from Denny Decker?

_ “Do you think we could hang out more?” _

That was a curious question,  _ “Yeah, for sure. Whenever you want. Sean honestly likes it better when I’m not working with him, so I’m free all the time.”  _

Rey nodded slowly,  _ “Do you think you’d be able to teach me any English? I’ve been wanting to learn.”  _

Daniel clapped his hands excitedly,  _ “Totally! That would be epic! Be warned though, I am a lot better at English than Spanish so it’s gonna sound super dumb when I try to explain things.”  _

_ “I don’t care, I just wanna know the basics. Also it’s funny when you don’t know how to translate something. That’s what I’m gonna be like in a few months.”  _

Daniel didn’t quite understand what he was getting at when he said “a few months”.  _ “What do you need English for? Are you taking a class...or?” _

_ “I’m actually moving away in March.”  _

Oh. Daniel felt a little shocked by that news.  _ “Really? Are you moving to America?”  _

_ “Yeah...Miami, Florida. My dad got a job there and stuff...we just gotta wait for the green card and citizen shit. I don't really know much because my parents don't want me to stress about it.”  _

Daniel forever felt sad about never being able to go back to America to visit anyone.  _ “Wow. Miami is nice, well, I’ve never been- but it always looks really nice in movies. You must be excited to be getting out of here?” _

_ “Not. At. All.”  _ Rey started with a faraway look in his eyes,  _ “I like it right here. I like my house, and the scenery, the people around me, my language, our school, my friends, the beach, I like you…everything.” _

Daniel nodded,  _ “Damn, that really sucks. I’m gonna miss you so much, you’re like the only cool person here.”  _ He said,  _ "Who the hell am I supposed to hang out with now?" _

_ "I've got a few months left, so maybe we could find you some better back up friends." _ He let out a sigh,  _ “We should head back to the other two losers now before they get so drunk and puke in your car.”  _ Rey began, standing up.

_ “I...never thought of that…” _

_ “Come on, no more sad time. We gotta get going.” _

Daniel jumped up onto his feet and that was that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was experimental. I don't know if it's okay?


	16. We at the fire bitch!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Huzzah! We have a nice weenie roast outside.

Damián looked into the camera and mouthed the words  _ “I didn’t sign up for that…” _ while he waited for Daniel to finish this in depth story he was telling. He shrugged in confusion.

_ “And then- when I pulled into the driveway I noticed that all the lights were on in the house and I literally wanted to die right then.”  _ Daniel explained, they were now sitting on the couch, nowhere near doing the dishes.  _ “I opened the back door and found Sean sitting in the office and he was crying really hard. Turns out, while I was gone, Izabella robbed like twenty two thousand pesos from our money safe and then she dipped!”  _

Damián was speechless. 

_ “It was insane. I was grounded for WEEKS. Honestly...I don’t even think I’m ungrounded yet? Sean and I never discussed this afterward.”  _

_ “Hey uh, do you think you could elaborate on Sean’s ex? She robbed you guys?”  _ Damián asked. 

_ “You should probably talk to Sean about her, I don’t think I should spill any more beans about his past relationships…”  _ Daniel said, leaning in and guarding his mouth,  _ “it’s honestly kinda laughable.” _

_ “O-okay?” _

_ “Yeah, I don’t know; I like you so far- so we’re good. But if you try to fuck him over I swear to god I will not hesitate to end you.”  _

Damián looked into the camera again; fear in his big, brown puppy dog eyes.

**

_ “This wasn’t something I thought I needed to worry about in a relationship…but okay. Yeah it’s fine. It’s nice that they stick together like that? I think..?” _

The cameraman asked something and Damián nodded, choking on his words a little.

He cleared his throat,  _ “Yes. I am very afraid of him. Very. He could literally kill me without using his hands. It must be so-so-so difficult for Sean to date anyone when his little brother is basically an overpowered five year old with trust issues. I don’t mean that. I really don’t. But...can this go off the record?”  _

“No.”

_ “Okay, well...I feel like if I were to leave I might get killed because I know too much? Is that an unreasonable thing to think? I mean...I don’t want to leave- not at all! Sean: great guy, so interesting, I’m already in love. But Daniel...I don’t fear much, but him: he scares me.”  _

The camera zoomed. Damián gulped.

**

**

Daniel was once again in the backroom downstairs, spinning in his spinny chair. “This would’ve never happened with Izabella. NEVER! She didn’t even talk to me half the time. I’d ask her a question and she literally wouldn’t even hear me!” Daniel explained, scoffing “rude” under his breath.

The camera man asked a question that made Daniel smile. 

“Damián is such a better fit for Sean. He's traveled all over Mexico, he knows how to survive in the wild...maybe? I mean probably. HE HAS A DOG.” He exclaimed, wagging his finger in the air, “He's perfect-I know! He likes his family, and just...he has a good vibe. Like honestly...if Sean doesn’t end up marrying him...I might. Platonically of course; I don’t like anyone. I’d need to wait a really long time to marry him cuz hes like...twenty seven and that is so fucking illegal, but I’d do it. I’d do it for the dog.”

“You’d marry a twenty seven year old man who slept with your brother?”

Daniel swiveled his chair in a very fast circle, “The fandom has honestly done worse. Have you ever seen people combine pedophila, incest, and rape into one thing? Yeah man...platonically marrying you brother’s ex who happens to be kinda old is nothing compared to that.” His swiveling came to a halt as he pretended to tip his hat and winked at the camera. “And that's on the fetishization of queer relationships.” 

__

**

The fire outside crackled and little embers spewed into the air. Toro liked to catch them in his mouth. Should dogs do that? I don’t know? I don’t have a dog. (Edit...I have a dog now. Still don’t know?) The gang sat around the fire. The boys were wildly unprepared to have five people around the fire at once and they only owned two outdoor chairs. Sean of course got one of the chairs, seeing as he worked all day long and deserved it, and Chloe played a game of rock paper scissors with Daniel to see which one of them got the second chair. After a game that lasted six rounds, Daniel ended up winning because of sheer dumb luck. Chloe was pissed that she got beat by a ten year old! 

“WHY THE FUCK DOES THAT LITTLE FART GET THE CHAIR AND THE DOG?!”

“I won fair and square! Maybe next time you should pick rock instead of scissors!” 

“You expect my lesbian ass to pick anything except scissors?!”

Max had to tell her that she couldn’t be upset over losing a chair, and that they were the guests at the house and didn’t own the rights to that chair, and also “Chloe, look at the camera crew! They don’t even get to sit.” Chloe disagreed, but at least losing the chair meant that her and Max could share a nice wooden crate and cuddle. Damián got the short end of the stick and he sat on the concrete, but I mean hey...that's what the mountain goat gets.

This was nice. Life is Nice. The five of them roasted some wieners over the fire and everyone was amazed by Daniel using his power to just sit back and relax and roast some weenies. Boy didn’t even need to touch the stick. Eventually he became the group's dedicated wiener roaster, and boy...he thoroughly enjoyed that title. 

“Can you roast this wiener for me?” Sean asked, handing another one to his brother.

It was like they all gave Daniel the power of a god. He leaned over in his chair next to Sean, pointed at his crotch and yelled, “You’re dick is so tiny, Damián needs a microscope to see it!” 

Max and Chloe each held their laughs in the best they could, but Chloe ended up doing that really awful nasal laugh, and Daniel got smacked. Luckily, Damián didn’t understand what was happening, he heard his name and Sean’s name and he just assumed it was something positive. 

“Dude- what the fuck!? It’s fine if you say jokes like that when there's no one around- but we’ve got people over tonight!” 

“Oh- I’m not joking!” Daniel ensured everyone,earning himself another full throttle smack. The smacking was not stopping. “When you ask me to roast your wiener, I’m gonna roast it! I call wiener roasting immunity though! No one can roast me.” He shouted, breaking out of Sean’s headlock.

Sean nearly knocked that little bitch out of the chair, and now Toro was mad. Throughout the day, Toro had really bonded with Daniel, and as Sean tried to nuggie Daniel’s head, Toro started growling and everyone stopped laughing. 

_ “Toro, that's enough.”  _ Damián said firmly, gesturing for Daniel to let the dog down. Toro walked over to him and sat down at his feet.  _ “I guess he really likes you now..” _

_ “Did you understand any of what we just said?”  _ Daniel asked.

_ “No?” _

_ “Do you wanna know?”  _

“DANIEL NO!”

Tea!! Sean and Daniel had hella beef! 

Anyway, long story short, everyone got over the wiener jokes and the rest of the night was pretty chill. Everyone taught Damián some English vines so that he could misuse them for the rest of the story. He really liked “Lipstick in my Valentino white bafhkafsk.”, and YEET was now a word in his vocabulary. 

Tomorrow was the start of the weekend; good ol’ Saturday. That meant that the shop was gonna be closed and everyone would have nothing to do. You see, Saturdays were the days where the brothers put their beef aside and hit up the strip clubs in GTA to wreak havoc. (Daniel grew out of Minecraft a long time ago because it was no fun to play without his old friends.) Sundays were their personal days; Sean normally slept all day and Daniel did Daniel things. 

Chloe Mothefucking Price chugged her whole beer bottle and everyone cheered. “Man, I’m gonna miss having a crowd watch me do that when Max and I leave.” 

“Oh yeah- how’s the truck coming along?” Max asked. 

“It’s going rough. I think I need to take a little break from it.” Sean explained, real stressed. Man knew he was not fixing that truck right with the supplies he had. “Maybe some time will help me figure it out.”

“Take all the time you need, my man. Max and I love it here.”

With a great big, dramatic sigh, Daniel slid out of his chair and onto the concrete. “What the heck are we gonna do tomorrow?” 

The gang exchanged blank glances. The five of them couldn’t all go to virtual strip clubs together, Sean and Daniel only had two controllers, and Sean had no work to do because he needed some time off from the Chloe Price Franken-Truck. 

Daniel beat the last piece of burning wood with a tong, “There's never anything to do here.” He groaned like an upset toddler.

_ “Hey, how about we all go to my house? There's a lot more places to explore around it.”  _ Damián suggested. 

_ “Don’t you have a bunch of those money sharks going after you?”  _ Sean asked. __

Damián looked over at Daniel, and then back at Sean,  _ “Not anymore.”  _

“SEAN PLEASE!” Daniel begged, praying to his brother. 

_ “Ah alright. I guess it couldn’t hurt to get out of here for a while...”  _

Max and Chloe didn’t know what was going on obviously, so Sean had to explain it to them. As they discussed the plans for the morning Max started to feel a looming sense of dread. She grabbed onto Chloe’s hand and used it as a stress ball. 

**

“Alright,” Chloe started, alone in the bathroom with the camera crew; she had tooth paste on the side of her mouth. “I’ve known Max for most of my life and I have learnt absolutely all of her non-verbal signals. She has very distinct hand squeezes- three to be exact.”

Chloe demonstrated on her own hand, “First one: Cute, fun, romantic, you know? Totally casual display of affection, just a little squish-squish. She does it all the time and it makes me feel great because her hands are so small and delicate and just-” Chloe couldn’t stop smiling. “It’s just great. I love her. She loves me. Second one! Serious, defensive, it’s like a battle stance. She just grabs my hand and it’s a static squeeze. Sometimes we get in some shit together and I like to think that she just needs to hold my hand in order to tap into the sheer power of Chloe Price and she does that by a good hand squeeze.” Chloe had to prepare herself for this next one. “Third and final on: anxious, distressed, painnnn. Max gets anxious a lot, and when she does her hands get all clammy and she squeezes my hand so hard. Like. So hard. She basically uses my hand as a stress ball, and that is when I can tell she needs my help. So I try my best to help her. For so many years I treated the world like my own stress ball...but now that I’m older, I’ve come to realize that it is in fact ME who is the stress ball.” Chloe said, very deeply. “And you know what has become my world...Max. Max is my world, and I am her stress ball.”

**

“Ugh, I gotta conk out guys. I’ll sleep on the couch.” Daniel said while yawning. 

“Awe...Danny you don’t need to do that. We could sleep on the-” Chloe started, but she ended that sentence right there because her hand was about to burst from the sheer strength of Max’s grip on it. “You go right ahead and take that couch little man. Big thanks.” 

And that was that. Everyone slowly packed up and headed on inside the house. Nighty night everybody. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have already pre-written a good portion of the story, however, I am open to any suggestions people have. Good suggestions, bad suggestions, literally anything. I want attention.


	17. Off to Damián’s house

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group hits up Damián’s house for the weekend. They get fed like kings. Daniel gets a bunk bed- and the spy gang go to the store while Sean and Damián do some chores.

Road trip in Karen’s old van again! Scoot Scoot!! They say lesbians move fast, but Sean and Damián moved faster. Man, they weren’t even officially dating yet and they already had four children. 

Now you might say that Max and Chloe were not their children, but I beg to differ. The whole ride there Max whined about how hot it was in the car, and Chloe kept asking how long until they got there. Sean and Damián had to play the “good dad/bad dad” game. 

Daniel and Toro stuck their heads out of the back seat window and let their tongues flop in the wind. I find it relevant to mention that Daniel’s sunglasses flew off his face and Sean was NOT about to turn the car around. Like a good papa, Damián gave Daniel his sunglasses, and they had another close call, but luckily Daniel was able to save them from falling onto the road with his power. 

**

When they made it to Damián’s house, Chloe was pulled aside when she got out of the van. 

“Sometimes I think about what life would be like if Max and I were a conventional couple. Like what if we had a kid? We would be such awesome parents wouldn’t we? I was trained by the best! My dad was the coolest man on earth and I’d wanna be just like him, right down to my child calling me dad. Think of that- I pull up to my child’s school on open house night, they go up to their teacher and are like “Mrs. Smith, do you wanna meet my daddy?” and Mrs. Smith is like, “Of course sweetie!” and then BOOM! It’s me! I’m daddy! The teacher is floored by this revelation and Max and I break all of society's expectations for parents. At least then...I could officially hold the title of: daddy.” Chloe said.. 

**

**

Max was shocked by this question.

“What did I think about on the ride?! “I sure do hope no one dies while we’re here…” If it can happen once it can happen again! It’s so crazy that I even destroyed one town with a time-nado. If David can have two nickels for knowing people with crazy powers than man...I’m definitely gonna have two nickels for destroying towns with time-nados.”

**

Out of the blue, Damián broke the silence in the van by saying “Road work ahead? Uh, I hope so!” very happily as they passed a road sign that did not say road work ahead. Sean gave him a pat on the shoulder for good effort. 

When they made it to Damián’s house everyone peeled their hot, sticky bodies off of the car seats. Lord, it must have been a billion degrees outside! Damián stood at his door with his dog like a realtor and opened the house for everyone.

To everyone’s surprise the inside of his house was nearly spotless...like suspiciously clean. Damián had no clutter anywhere- like there were no plates laying around; nothing at all. The clutter that was around was strategically placed and tastefully integrated in as decor. Sean and Daniel stood speechless in the entrance and just stared in awe at the state of the place. They hadn’t seen a clean house since they were living with their grandparents, and even then, old people like to collect things. Sean admittedly felt quite embarrassed knowing that Damián probably wasn’t used to such a messy house like they had. This was a plot twist in everyone’s relationship with Damián that they did not expect. How could he look so scruffy in his appearance but have such a neat and tidy house?? 

“You live like this?!” Chloe asked him, shocked. Her and Max were nowhere near as messy as the boyz, but they still refused to put away their dishes.

“Everyone make this your home!” Damián said, holding his arms open and doing a classy little spin around. “-No shoes.” 

It had a totally open floor plan and it’s got lots of opportunity for natural light to come in because the wall opposite to the entrance is just some nice big windows. Damián keeps the curtains closed most of the time though; meaning that inside the house was quite temperate. Now, the amenities weren’t totally modern but man was it weird to see a clean stove top! He even had a fucking kitchen island! A WHOLE ISLAND. AND IT HAD A CONTAINER OF LEMONS ON IT. The cameraman didn’t know what to focus on?!

Right away Damián went to fill up Toro’s food bowl and the doggy gobbled that shit up as quick as it was poured in. Toro puked later.

Daniel looked at Sean with his mouth slightly open. Although no words were spoken, it was clear that Daniel was finally impressed by one of Sean’s dating choices. 

“You must make hella money if you’re living in a place like this…” Chloe said, Sean translated. 

_ “Oh, no-no. I only rent it, but I’m good friends with the owner so he lets rent slide sometimes.”  _ Damián said. Sean translated. Someone needs to teach Max and Chloe some fucking Spanish. 

Damián walked everyone down the bedroom hall of the house. There were two bedrooms and one bathroom. Not much of a step up from the Diaz house, but wait until you hear this.

_ “That room has a bunk bed, so you guys can both have a bed.”  _

Immediately Daniel leaped up into the air and grabbed Sean’s arm as he bounced. “I call top bunk! Bottom bunk is for pussies!!” 

Max and Chloe were offended. 

_ “I use that room for when my two little sisters come visit, so it might be a little messy in there. They like to keep some of their toys here.”  _

**

“Now…” Daniel started, sitting on the brown living room couch, “I don’t play with toys anymore cuz: I’m too old. But...I am interested to see what they have here. Just to see it ya know? Like, what if his little sisters have bad taste or like boring things? Honestly, I’m kinda cool with anything, even the girly toys and stuff. I need to see what they have for research purposes.” 

**

_ “How old are your sisters?”  _ Sean asked.

_ “Ten and fourteen.”  _

Sean tilted his head, impressed. He nudged Daniel. “One of them is almost old enough for you. You want in on this family?”

Daniel nudged him very hard right back, “Ew stop! I’d rather stick my foot in a blender.”

Damián's room was right across and the bathroom was at the very end of the hallway. All in all, this was a very impressive tour. The girls and Daniel entered their room and set down all their luggage. 

None of them knew what Damián was on about with the whole “the room might be kind messy” thing. The room looked pretty clean to all of them. Daniel was also mildly upset that there were no toys anywhere to be seen.

Max sat down on the bottom bunk to test out the mattress. It felt like heaven to sit on! That might be a bit of an exaggeration. It felt better than Daniel’s old mattress, that's for sure. Chloe flopped down right next to her. They knew they were gonna have a lot of trouble when they needed to leave this place. 

“Where do you think Sean and I are gonna end up living if he stays with Damián?”

“Couldn’t tell you,” Chloe said as she propped herself up with her elbows, “but for your sake I hope it’s here.” 

“I don’t think Sean would agree to that. He worked so hard to repair dad’s old house and we can’t just abandon it.” Daniel said, disappointed. “Maybe if Damián lives with us he can help us buy better furniture?”

“Ah yes...exploiting men for profit. I used to do that back in my prime...got a lot of concert tickets from a guy named Elliot.” 

“Who the hell is Elliot?!” Max asked, surprised.

Chloe bit her bottom lip and frowned.

  
  


After a while everyone regrouped back in the kitchen for some breakfast! Damián was gonna make everyone some of his ultimate breakfast burritos and let me tell you- the gang thoroughly enjoyed them. Everyone had flashbacks to the day where they all had to eat a singular toaster pancake for breakfast, and it made them all believe that Damián was the second coming of Christ. 

Toro stood at the door while they all finished eating and cried to be let out. This caught Daniel’s attention. He had a bad history with dogs needing to be let out of the house to go potty. 

_ “Why don’t you take him outside for a walk? There's a shop down the road that you’d probably find some cool stuff in. You could take Max and Chloe with you.”  _ Damián suggested.

Daniel shrugged and got up from his stool at the island, the girls followed along with him. Everyone put their shoes on and Daniel suited up the doggy. 

“Alright! Well, we’ll be back soon. I won’t spend too much money Sean, don’t worry.” Daniel said knowing full well that he had three dollars and a paperclip in his pocket. “What are you guys gonna do when we’re gone?” 

“Uhh…” Sean and Damián exchanged concerned looks, “Chores.” Sean said as Damián tried to repeat it in unison but he said it too late. “Chores…”

Daniel said “ah.” and took Toro outside. Chloe winked at them as she left. 

**

Included in the video documentary was a silent clip of Damián, half dressed, chasing one of the cameras out of the house while Sean stood in the doorway covering his face. Audio was cut for the sake of the children.

**

Daniel couldn’t help but sing as they walked down the dusty street. Toro pulled on the leash so hard causing everyone to walk at a very swift pace.

“Almost heaven, West Virginia,

Blue Ridge Mountain, Shanandoa River,

Life is old there, older than the trees,

Younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze

Country Roads, take me home

To the place I belong,

West Virginia,

Mountain mamma, take me home

Country roads”

All the joy in the air right then made Chloe want to sing too, and Chloe wasn’t a country fan or a singer. To be fair though, none of them were country fans or singers. 

“All my memories, gather round her

Miner's lady, stranger to blue water

Dark and dusty, painted on the sky

Misty taste of moonshine, teardrops in my eyes

Country Roads, take me home

To the place I belong,

West Virginia,

Mountain Mamma, take me home

Country roads”

Max’s face was red, not only with sunburn, but with embarrassment as well. These two goofs were singing and skipping down the street and they were making it look like so much fun...she just had to do it too. 

“I hear her voice in the morning hour as she calls me

The radio reminds me of my home far away

Driving down the road I get a feeling

That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday

Country Roads, take me home

To the place I belong,

West Virginia,

Mountain Mamma, take me home

Country roads” 

Finally it was too late for them to stop. They had to finish the song in unison. 

“Country Roads, take me home

To the place I belong,

West Virginia,

Mountain Mamma, take me home

Country roads

Take me home, that country road

Take me home, that country road

Toro shat right as they made it to the store at the end of the road. Daniel picked the poop up using his power and launched it through the air like a monkey. Just gotta cross your fingers and hope that the flying shit didn’t hit anybody in the distance. 

They entered the store with the dog because nothing was telling them not to do that and began to look through the aisles. It was similar to a dollar store, as in, it had any kind of junky thing you could think of. 

Out of all the aisles, they spent the most time in the snack aisle. It really sucked that Daniel only had sixty eight pesos to spend. He looked between a bag of Doritos and a bag of Cheetos and seriously debated stealing both of them, but Sean wouldn’t be happy if the cashier caught him and started some trouble. Daniel chose the Doritos. Because Doritos started with D and so did Daniel.

As they continued on Daniel had to touch every product on the shelves. He would not have survived Covid. His hand landed on a treat in a blue wrapper and it was at that moment Daniel knew he fucked up. It was a godforsaken Choc’o’crisp. He hadn’t seen one of those things in months. Without hesitation he looked at the price and had to take his hand away from the shelf in pain. It was too much

“FOUR DOLLARS FOR A DAMN CHOCOLATE BAR?! What kind of monster-”

“Here,” Max looked into her shoulder bag and took out her wallet. From her wallet she took out 200 extra pesos for him. “Buy the chocolate.”

Daniel looked at her as if she was an angel who had just descended from heaven and thanked her big bunches. 

A little bit further on they followed Chloe into the cosmetics aisle. Yes this ‘dollar store’ type place had a cosmetics aisle, and it had it for one particular reason: hair dye. Chloe stood in front of a small wall of hair dye. Could these products be trusted? Probably not. But was Chloe drawn to cheap hair bleach? Yes. 

She pointed to a box of pink dye, “Hey Max, we should give you a pink streak.”

“No way. Avril Lavigne might call me if I do that.” 

“And what's your problem with her? She was like my first ever gay crush. You would be blessed to get a call from her!” 

Daniel piped up excitedly in the conversation, “OOH! Can I have a coloured streak?” 

Chloe gave him a high five, “Hell yeah man! Look Max, Daniel, a seven year old, wants a streak of colour-”

“I’m Sixteen-”

“A seven year old-” 

“Chloe, I know he’s not seven! His age isn’t gonna make me wanna-” 

“-If Daniel, an age ambiguous boy, can have a streak SO CAN YOU!” 

Max looked at the box perplexed, “I don’t know…can you really trust hair dye that isn’t even closed in the box right?”

“You told me you’d dye your hair at least once in your life, and now's the time to just get it done and over with.” Chloe said, picking up a box of pink dye and some of that cheap bleach. “Danny, what colour do you want?”

“I’ll share the pink with Max.” 

Chloe nodded approvingly, “Ooh a bold choice! I like that, kid.” 

“Now maybe Avril Lavigne will call  **me** . I just wanna have a chat with her…I wanna find out if she’s the real Avril.”

They paid for their things and started walking back home. Sadly, they didn’t sing a song on the way back. They were too excited to try the dye.

  
  


One of the worst ideas the gang could’ve had would’ve been to dye each other’s hair in Damián’s bathroom. So it’s a very good thing Chloe decided to set up her boot-leg salon in Damián’s backyard. They didn’t need a fancy mirror, tap water, or a brush because they had a bucket, a hose, and Chloe’s hands. 

They dyed Max’s hair first because Daniel was a little chicken. Chloe sectioned out a decent sized streak in Max’s hair and put the bleach on quite sloppily, but Chloe was a professional hair colourist at this point so it was probably just part of her process. 

While they waited for the bleach to start working, Max played with Toro and Chloe started plastering that chemical shit in Danny’s hair. If this turned out bad Max knew that she could just use her power to reverse time and tell Chloe the bleach made their hair catch on fire. 

“Sean is gonna be so pissed at me for this- oohhoo!” Daniel giggled. He was gonna get multiple little tufts of pink around his head. He wanted to look like a fireball.

“If it looks like shit I could shave your head.” 

“NO WAY! I got a big ass forehead under all this hair.” 

Curiosity killed the Chloe, she swiped up his hair and man, yeah, just...he kinda did have a big forehead. The all seeing author confirms this headcanon. Daniel got a big forehead. I don’t make the rules. I don’t even enforce them. I got a decently sized forehead too, bitch.

It took a hefty amount of time for the bleach to work, but when it was finally done Chloe could start slapping the pink dye on both of them. She had a really good time. 

“You know, I started dying my hair when I was sixteen. I got a nice big blue chunk. Not gonna lie- I was pretty hot with blue hair.”

Max rolled her eyes, “I remember how crazy it was seeing you for the first time in years and you had bright blue hair. I didn’t even recognize you. It looked super cool though...I was kinda jealous of it.” 

“I should’ve picked blue dye….” Daniel groaned. “Blue is such a cool colour.” 

Chloe finished her business and now it was time to wait around again. Lucky for them Sean and Damián had just finished their chores and the whole gang was back together once again! YEE HAW. All the timing just fell perfectly into place; Sean was in such a good mood he didn’t even react negatively to the flamingo coloured patches in Daniel’s hair. Damián took one for the team. Damián did chores so Daniel could have fun with hair dye and we gotta respect a king for that. 

Damián however, had enough sense in him to react to this monstrosity. He ran right up to Daniel and gently smacked him upside the head and said, “WHAT ARE THOOOOSEEE!!”

Daniel was not impressed. No one was impressed. They shouldn’t have taught him classic vines. 

_ “These are my PINK. STREAKS.” _ Daniel explained harshly with a frown.

Damián backed off and nodded, “ _ They are nice- I swear.” _

Chloe raised the box of hair dye into the air, “I’m doing them for free guys! Sean you want some?” 

Unsurprisingly, Sean shook his head, “I think I’ll pass…”

“You’re missing out man...” Chloe said. She then gestured to Max, “you could be looking as darlin’ as this cutie pie right here.”

Max scrunched her face up, you couldn’t even tell that she was blushing at this point because of the sunburn.

“She was a solid ten before, but now it’s safe to say she broke the scale. I have literally never been so in love with someone before. Life is great...” 

Not really knowing what to do, Sean and Damián gave each other a sturdy pat on the back. Daniel was just happy that everyone around him was happy. It was now time for the gang to figure out the rest of their day. 


	18. Chloe has feelings...SHE DOES!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang have a great day while montage music plays in the back. Man I don't know?

In an attempt to not have this story drag on and on and on...cue the super cool, fun times, montage music!! Everybody put your cool kid shades on and get ready for an epic day at Damián's house cuz things are about to get ah-pretty wild!

When Daniel first saw his hair in the mirror he immediately regretted going with pink because black hair does not bleach very well. He ended up looking like a baby flamingo just starting to change colours. Sean gave him heck for doing something that stupid, and that of course led to a petty brawl. From the bathroom, the brothers chased each other to the living room and Sean proceeded to RKO Daniel over the couch, which was a very bold move considering Daniel could kill someone without using his hands. Max and Chloe were shaken to their cores while watching this unfold. 

Next it was lunch time, Damián did the cooking again seeing as the others were all perfectly content living off of boxed mac and cheese. He made some sizzling fajitas for everyone and man...is there anything Damián can't do? I mean...he can't really read the room and decide when it's a good time to throw in one of those cool vine references, nor can he use vine references correctly. But hey, we can't all be perfect. 

After that everyone took to the beach for some cool down time since the afternoon got wicked hot. Max and Chloe didn't think to pack swimsuits with them on their trip to a coastal village in Mexico, so they ended up needing to borrow some of the clothes Damián had lying around his room and his little sisters’ rooms. All of Damián's clothes were way too big for Chloe, so she had to tie them up real good with some hair ties. Chloe walked out of the bathroom with swim trunks tied up past her belly button and Max lost her marbles because she claimed that Chloe looked like a grandpa with one of Damián's old white t-shirts tucked into a pair of his shorts. 

"Look who's talking, you're still tiny enough to fit in his little sisters clothes. That's a real achievement babe." Chloe said as she proudly strutted her stuff out of the bathroom, not realizing her shorts were on the verge of ending it all. Lets just say it was a good thing the boys had made their way to the water already. 

At the beach, Max sat under an umbrella that was under a palm tree while everyone else played in the water. She wasn’t very interested in playing in the sun any longer; it was just too goddamn hot outside. Plus, it was more fun watching Chloe try to keep up with the boys while also managing her shorts. Every once in a while Chloe would look over to her and Max felt APALOOTY flustered. Who knew someone could look so hot wearing soggy grandpa clothes and getting their head smashed into the water by a little sixteen year old flamingo. Chloe had quite a bit of energy for someone going on thirty, and she was pretty strong to be out there in the water lugging around a whole child on her back. 

**

“Chloe and I like to travel all over the US these days. We’ve gone from coast to coast within the last nine years. It’s been super cool! I take photos of every place we’ve been too- wanna see some? I brought some photo albums as conversation pieces.” Max suggested. She took a large, like seriously large, photo album out of her bag. 

“This first one is from summer 2014 when Chloe and I went to Yosemite National Park. It was the first big trip we went on since Arcadia. It was nice to get out of Oregon and go to California, we’ve actually been living there now for a couple weeks. I really like it there, even if it’s a little hot.”

“OH! And these two are from when we went to New York a few months later! There's Chloe with the statue of Liberty- I told her not to wear that god-awful tourist shirt…” Max sighed, “but she insisted on it. The one below it is of both of us in central park. We fed the pigeons there for a bit and got hotdogs, that's why I have a little bit of mustard on my face. New York is also super cool and we lived there for a few months last year...we move around a lot.” 

She flipped the pages a few more times to try to find another good picture to show. “Hmm...these are some pictures from when we went to the grand canyon with David. It was the first time we saw him in years and it was a totally sick trip!” Max said pointing to a picture of Chloe looking off into the mountains. "Chloe looked so pretty, that was when she dyed her hair natural again...oh and David was so happy to see her. David really liked Arizona, it's probably why he chose to stay there after the trip." She explained, “That, and Karen.”

“These are some of my favorite pictures ever! I got Chloe to do a photo shoot in Virginia when we went to the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest. We went in fall so all the trees were so pretty, and Chloe actually dyed her hair red for about a year and it went so well with this place.” Max smiled as she looked at her artwork. “Also...turns out I kind of have a thing for red-heads?” She shrugged confused.

“I don’t wanna bore you with anymore pictures of us...I could literally be here all day! The photo album actually starts way back at the beginning with a picture of Chloe in ninth grade and me in eighth grade. That was the first time I ever went to school without my big baby...Seattle sucked then, but Chloe and I took a trip back to Seattle just last year and I got to show her my old house and stuff, and then we went to my parent’s new house in Seattle. I think it’s pretty crazy that both Sean and Daniel grew up in Seattle while I was there...I wonder if we ever crossed paths? Maybe at the grocery store or something?” Max said, chuckling and then shrugging at the absurdity of her thoughts.

**

**

Chloe looked up to the bathroom ceiling, “Hmm...I think my all time favorite adventure with Max would be when we went to Vegas for the first time. And no- not because of the gambling or nightclubs we went to, and holy shit did we go to a lot, also sex. Lots. I can't even explain I- We literally went broke after that trip and had to go live with David for a few months because we dead-ass lost the apartment. It was so crazy-”

The camera cut.

“Sorry, I went off a little bit, but I liked that trip because we had this one moment where we were on the rooftop of our fancy ass hotel, that like I said before: we couldn't afford, and we were sitting in these lounge chairs...just chilling and looking at the stars. And I remember thinking about how crazy it was to actually be in Vegas with this girl who started off as just my childhood best friend. If thirteen year old Chloe heard that she’d be like “ha I’m not fucking gay- you are!” and then she’d go search up girls kissing on Tumblr and flinch at every single sound in the hallway- yeah bitch- I’m calling you out! But just…” Chloe sighed as she unwrapped her hair from the towel it was in, “That was a cool fucking time to be alive. In Vegas having fun with your girlfriend/best friend in the world! That’s why I liked that trip.” 

**

Everyone played until the sun began to set over the water. My oh my were they all gonna sleep well tonight. For supper everyone gathered around a shabby little dining table in Damián’s backyard. For tonight's special, Damián the certified chef made some grilled corn and hot dogs. 

Alright, you can take your sunglasses off because the super fun day montage is over and we are going to get nice and mellow for the evening. Sean, Daniel, and Max all headed into the house for bedtime, which meant that Chloe and Damián were left to chill alone outside for a while.

Damián took his sweet time making sure the grill was all cleaned up and Chloe just sat back observing, while sipping her drink. Because of the language barrier it was very difficult for them to do any talking but Chloe managed to ask him how the weather was and he managed to reply with “It is good.” 

When he got the grill all cleaned up, Chloe motioned for Damián to sit down in the dining chair next to her, and she took out her phone. Hun, you bet your buns she whipped out Google translate. 

_ “Thank you for all the amazing food today, and for letting us all stay at your house this weekend. You’re a real one.” _ The robotic voice of Google translate said. 

Damián nodded happily, he looked very proud of himself for being a good host. 

_ “Do you want to write something?”  _ Chloe asked through the translator, handing him her phone. 

He took her phone and began typing, “I’m having a very good day with everyone here. Smiley face.” 

Chloe nodded in disappointment at the use of an emoji, but she moved on fast,  _ “Damián, you are one cool dude. I think I need some one on one advice about something though, because I’ve been doing some thinking." _

Of course Damián gladly agreed. 

_ "Do you think that Max and I should get married?"  _

He looked at her with confusion and cautiously took her phone as he thought out a response, "Why would my answer be no? Of course you should get married if you want to." He added his own audible "pfft " at the end.

_ “But how do you know if you should ask someone to marry you?” _

“Speaking as a friend, I think you and Max are great together and if you love each other you have nothing to worry about. What makes you think you shouldn’t ask her?”

_ "Well, we've been together for nine years and nine years ago she said that marriage was stupid and didn't actually prove your love or anything...what if she still believes that?" _

"Sometimes marriage just makes things seem more official. It’s the gesture that counts. Why do you want to marry her?"

Chloe grabbed her phone back and copy pasted a large paragraph from her clip tray. She set her phone down on the table and just let google translate read the message.  _ "Max is the greatest person I have ever met!! I've known her since we were in kindergarten and let me tell you, as four and five year olds, we bonded immediately. I truly and honestly believe that we're soulmates, David."  _ Chloe jumped forward to try to fix that. Clearly this message was sent to David and ain't that just sweet, folks?  _ "Seeing Max for the first time again when I was nineteen was the best thing that ever happened in my life. It was like the hole in my heart that had been empty for years had just filled right back up and I finally had my best friend back. I love the way she is so awkward around new people, and she panics over the smallest, little things. Max cares so much about everyone and she just pours her heart and soul into everything, INCLUDING ME. She just loves me so much!!! I have never had anybody love me this much before and that is so neat!!! If you told fifteen year old Chloe that she would be living in a beach side apartment with Maxine freaking Caulfield, she would've probably tried to stab you with a plastic fork. But that was just who she was at the time David, the fact of the matter is: I love Max so much and I wanna have fun pirate adventures with her for the rest of eternity."  _

When the message was finally over, Damián looked up at Chloe and found her sitting there with her fist covering her mouth, holding back tears because her message was just too goddamn beautiful and every word was true. He gave her a hearty pat on the back, and said to her, a nice reassuring, "there, there."

_ "Thanks."  _ Chloe said, sniffling. 

Damián took her phone back again, "How about I make a ring for you to give to her? I used to make resin jewelry for a living, and I'm sure I could craft a beautiful ring for you by the morning." He suggested.

Chloe's jaw dropped and she typed her response,  _ "Are you serious?! That would be so amazing! How much will it cost?"  _ This ring was going to be the most special thing Chloe had ever given to Max, and that says a lot because Chloe got Max Animal Crossing during the twenty twenty pandemic. 

"No charge. Rings are super easy to make. Plus, I just want to see my friends be happy." Google translate said as Damián handed Chloe her phone back for the final time.

She looked at him before deciding that it was time to hug him. Chloe squeezed really tight. “I love you, man.” 

“Okay.” 

When the friendly embrace ended, Chloe got up from her chair and spun around holding finger guns, “This is our secret, okay?” 

“Okay.” 

And that was that. Chloe wandered back inside the house for beddy-bye time. When she shut the door behind her she found Sean standing in the kitchen looking very tired. 

“What took you guys so long?” Sean asked, groggily. 

Chloe shrugged and shoved her hands in her short pockets, “Just talking.” 

“Oh...Is he gonna be out there much longer?” 

“He’s working on secret stuff, I can’t say anything about it.” Chloe said as she approached her bedroom door. “Why don’t you go out there and keep him company?” 

Sean made an unintelligible groan and headed for the door. 

In Damián’s backyard there was a small shed looking thing, and that shed was where Damián did all of his profitable arts and crafts. Sean looked in through the door and saw Damián hunched over a bin on the floor. He knocked on the open door to make his presence known. 

_ “Are you going to bed anytime soon?” _ Sean asked. All the fresh air and running around today really tuckered him out. 

_ “Not for a while. I have something important to do.”  _ Damián explained. Taking a ring mold out of the bin and placing it on his messy, paint splattered table. 

_ “Chloe said you’re working on secret stuff?”  _

_ “Yep! Top secret business here. Don’t come any closer or I’ll have to kill you.”  _ He said, reaching up on his shelves and grabbing a bunch of bottles. 

_ “What are you making?”  _ Sean asked, completely disregarding the fact that Damián just said it was a secret. 

Lucky for Sean, Damián also didn’t really care that it was a secret.  _ “I’m making a ring.”  _

Sean’s eyes widened,  _ “A ring? What would you need a ring for?” _

_ “You’ll just need to wait and see when I’m ready.”  _ Damián said in the most ominous way possible as he put a mask over his mouth and nose.  _ “Go to bed without me. This stuff is bad to breathe in.”  _

_ “O-okay??”  _ Sean said, turning around on his heel and walking back inside. 

**

It felt really weird to be sleeping alone in Damián's room. Sure he was there earlier in the morning, but sleeping in it alone just felt wack. Sean sat at the edge of the bed, ready to be documented. 

“Oh my god...is Damián gonna propose to me? He...he can’t do that. No- we’ve only known each other for like two weeks! That’s insane!! Why is he making a freaking ring?!”

The camera crew wasn’t gonna tell him.

“I’m gonna need to decline his offer I think. Oh my god...OH MY GOD. Why would he ask me so soon? Why can’t he just wait?! What if I don’t decline? Then what happens? Do I want that?? I don’t know…” He said with a faraway look on his face. “I don’t...”

**


	19. The Hall of the Mountain King

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. We back. It morning now. Everyone slept in until noon! Damián only went to bed at four am and quite frankly, he is the only one out of the five of them who would wake up before noon on a Sunday. 

When everyone finally did wake up, Chloe and Damián met discreetly in the bathroom so that Damián could hand off the goods. He had the ring wrapped up in a little baggy, so Chloe had no clue what it looked like. 

Sean, Max, and Daniel all watched the two as they left the bathroom. Sean sure thought this was some shady business, so he tapped his brother on the shoulder. 

With a hot omelet in his mouth, Daniel shouted, “WHAT?” very annoyed.

“Jesus Christ...shut up!” 

Daniel did not compute, “Why would you tap my shoulder if you were just going to tell me to shut up? Sean I swear-”

“We gotta talk outside.” Sean whispered.

“But why?” Daniel whispered back.

“Because.”

“BUT WHY?” 

“BECAUSE. Now just pretend to be taking the dog out.”

Max looked into the camera perplexed.

  
  


So they got up from the kitchen island and took Toro outside. When they got outside Sean was finally able to breath again. Daniel held the leash and starred at Sean. 

“Are we out here because you wanna have a talk about my hair again?” Daniel asked. "I don’t even care that you hate it- it’s MY hair."

“No.” Sean started, shading his eyes from the sun. “I have bigger things to worry about than your hair.”

Daniel sighed, “Oh jeez,” He said sarcastically, “what happened? Are you pregnant?” 

Sean looked off into the distance, “I think Damián wants to marry me.” 

“Uh…” 

“He said that he was making a ring last night and that he wouldn’t show me until he was ready, and Chloe said that he was up to some secret stuff. Put two and two together, dude! I think he wants to propose to me!” 

Daniel looked into the camera. 

“I don’t- I don’t think I wanna marry him. I mean, I literally just met him. We aren’t even really dating yet! Like...we’ve never even discussed dating…” He said quietly. “It’s way too soon to be thinking of marriage if we aren’t even officially dating yet.” 

Daniel continued to look at the camera. “Did you ever think that maybe he’s just gonna give you the ring as a gift? A ring doesn’t mean a proposal. You can propose with anything. If he wanted to, he could propose with an omelet."

No sooner than the words left Daniel’s mouth, the kitchen window opened up and Damián stuck his head out.  _ “Sean- there’s one omelet left. Do you want it?”  _

Sean’s hand flew over his mouth in shock. Ya boy was officially paranoid and Daniel was officially psychic.

**

“Am I psychic? No. If I had that much power- you don't even wanna know what would happen. That was just really good timing on Damián’s half. We work like that; we’re the best team.” Daniel said, standing off all alone outside. “As for Damián asking Sean to marry him- yeah that's not gonna happen. Chloe already told me last night when Max was asleep that she was gonna propose. I’m not gonna tell that to Sean though. I like to see him suffer like this.” 

Daniel smiled. 

**

Sunday went by just as fast as Saturday. Everyone decided that it would be best if they went back home for the night; Sean had to open up the shop really early in the morning.

The entire process of deciding whether or not Damián would be coming back with them was super awkward for both him and Sean because neither of them knew the stance on their relationship. 

Chloe nudged Max as they both looked out the back window of the van, “That right there...is the most disastrous bi I have ever seen- and I’ve met you.”

“Right?! Like you guys are in this deep already- might as well just make it official.”

“How long did it take us to make it official after we started hanging out again?”

Max blinked many times, “Chloe...I don’t think we ever made it official. I think you just kinda started telling people I was your girlfriend and I didn’t disagree.” 

“Hmm…”Chloe nodded. “Damn. So we’ve just been friends this whole time?” 

“I wouldn’t say that…”

“We’ve been living together, sleeping together, travelling together, and all this time we never even established that we are IN FACT officially girlfriends?” 

“I mean...I don’t think we ever had a sit down moment where we were like: ‘Hey, lets make things official: we’re girlfriends.’ It was just kind of, ‘Hey...do you wanna make out?’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘Ahaha.’ and ‘Have you ever had the desire to be with someone else?’ ‘No.’ ‘nice.’”

“Are you serious?” 

Max nodded firmly. 

“Well shit. Max Caulfield, will you officially be my girlfriend?”

“Awe...are you cereal? Of course I will Chloe. You could ask me to be your girlfriend a million times and I would say yes to every single one of them.” Max said happily, giving Chloe a big fat kiss which was rudely interrupted as the three disaster bisexuals came back to the car. 

  
  


Alrighty now fam, we’re back at the Diaz house. The stark difference in appearance between the two homes was astounding. When they got back into the garage, Sean couldn’t tell if the place had been ransacked, or if that was just how he left it. Truth be told that was just how he left it; Mr. Diaz works best in a mess. 

When they got upstairs everyone gathered around the kitchen table for a friendly game of poker. It was a really tight game between Max and Daniel, obviously because they’re the two OP farts with magical powers, Max won though. Was it fair? No. Did she win anything? Also no. Was Daniel upset? Yes. Very.

After the game was done, Max and Sean watched as Chloe and Damián went into the bathroom together for the second time in one day. They both made eye contact and awkwardly snuck off into Sean’s room in a similar fashion. 

**

Daniel aggressively flopped back on the couch in frustration.

“When they ask you how you are and you just have to say that you’re fine- when you’re not really fine- but you just can’t get into it because they would never understand.” 

**

“Hey- welcome to my room, sorry it’s such a mess.” Sean explained, stepping over dirty clothes on the floor to get to his bed. “You probably feel pretty shocked seeing my room after being at Damián’s house all weekend.” 

Max looked at the camera guiltily, unable to tell him that she had already been snooping around in his room. She followed him to his bed and sat down. 

“Max, I feel like there is something super suspicious going on with Chloe and Damián.” Sean said. 

“Yeah...they have been acting super strange since last night. Chloe came to bed all happy and stuff after talking to him. What do you think they were talking about?”

“I talked to him last night and he said he was making a ring...but he couldn’t tell me what for.” 

Max gently placed her hand over her mouth, “Oh wow...that is so strange. Maybe he has a client or something? He makes jewelry right?” 

Sean shrugged dramatically, “I don’t know?! Maybe?! But he also said that he’ll tell me when he’s ready…ready for what??”

“Oh god...what if he needs advice from Chloe about relationships and stuff? Her and I have been together for nine years so we know quite a bit about relationships.”

“Yeah but...Damián and I have only known each other for two weeks! Why would he want to give me a ring???”

They looked at each other. 

“Is it crazy to think that he wants to marry me?!” Sean asked, panicked.

“I don’t know, Sean? I don’t know?! They say lesbians move fast but hun you and Damián are moving really fucking fast!”

“I don’t wanna move this fast! I like him and all but- I didn’t expect this!” 

“Sean, I don’t wanna make this about me but I wish Chloe would move a little faster now. We’ve been dating for nine years and I wish she would ask me to marry her. I used to not really like marriage, but that was because it was twenty thirteen and I was a total hipster who didn’t like the idea of institutional relationships and shit.”

“Maybe you should be the one to ask her?” 

“I should. But only if you finally buckle down and tell Damián how you feel.”

Sean let out a deep worried breath, “Okay. I’ll tell him that I don’t wanna marry him right now and that I just wanna be... regular dating. But only if you ask Chloe to marry you.” 

“Deal.” Max said, shaking Sean’s hand. 

Suddenly the door opened and both of them screamed as Chloe and Damián poked their heads in the door. The screaming made them laugh and Max had to save herself and Sean from that sort of embarrassment, so she reversed time. 

Sean let out a deep worried breath, “Okay. I’ll tell him that I don’t wanna marry him right now and that I just wanna be... regular dating. But only if you ask Chloe to marry you.” 

“Deal.” Max said, shaking Sean’s hand, “Now we gotta act natural because Chloe and Damián are coming in.”

Sean’s eyes widened; he was not used to following everything Max said yet. “What?”

The door opened and they both sat up like stiff boards who were not just talking to each other, because stiff boards don’t talk. They are inanimate. 

Chloe cocked her eyebrow, “Um? Are we interrupting something? Should we leave?”

“Nah...we’re just chilling.” Max said sheepishly.

_ “Super chilling.”  _

“What have you guys been doing? Huh?” Max asked, crossing her arms trying to be intimidating. 

Chloe looked over to Damián for help, but he just shrugged. “I was just thanking him for letting us hang at his house for the weekend. Can’t we just do something friendly without being interrogated?”

_ “What have you guys been doing?”  _ Damián asked, pulling out the classic uno reverse card.

_ “Bills. Talking about bills.”  _

Chloe walked over to Max and wrapped her arm around her shoulder, “Come on, Max. We should head to bed before Daniel remembers how bad the couch is.”

Before Max could even process what was going on, Chloe dragged her to her feet and was now leading her out of the room.

Sean was able to mouth the words, “Ask her.”

And Max was able to mouth back as she trotted out of the bedroom, “Not in there!”

Sean pursed his lips and pointed, “Daniel's room is beautiful. Ask!” 

“You ask!” 

And they both stopped mouthing words to each other.

**

Daniel was mildly upset.

“They always ask each other “What are you doing.” but never me. This is why you guys are my new best friends- because you guys ALWAYS ask me what I’m doing, and that makes me feel really important and that is really all I want in life. I have a shit-ton more things I wanna tell you guys about.” He said from the living room floor where he had been sitting this whole time because: _ **dramatic.**_ “I hope you guys stay here forever because it's really cool being a movie star! I hope your college film class really likes this video you guys are making.” His smile faded, “What do you mean you guys don’t think you can share it? What am I doing wrong?” He asked, “Oh...right. Yeah, it would be pretty bad if the police saw this.”

**


	20. Now Daniel has feelings :(

Morning came and everyone was put to work right away. Chloe and Sean tended to the vehicles, Daniel and Damián sat with their feet up on the counter, and Max danced around with the broom. 

The elevator music playing in the shop was interrupted by the bell that rang every time a customer entered. You know who the first customer was? It was Jerry from the other day. 

Daniel placed his feet back on the floor and got ready to greet the man, _“Heyy, you again! How can we help you today?”_

The Jerry did not look happy, his face curved into a disgruntled smirk, _“My car broke down the day after I took it in here.”_

 _“Erm...what do you want me to do about that? Seems like a you problem…”_ Daniel replied, bouncing on his feet after hearing that his comment made Damián laugh.

 _“I want a refund and I want my car to be fixed_ **_again._ ** _”_ He said.

_“Tsk, I’m sorry but we don’t do that here. You can get your car fixed again, but full price. We don’t accept returns on labor.”_

Jerry slapped his newspaper on his hip and hit his fist on the counter, _“You know what- I can get you a mechanic who can do an actual good job for once! Let my nephew work here, goddammit!”_

_“Woah sir! Calm down. I told you before; only Diaz family can work here. It’s a family business. F.A.M.I.L.Y. No Diaz equals no job.”_

He rudely pointed to Damián, _“Well then who is he? HUH?! I’ve never seen that man before in my life! And who are the two pasty baboons with the cameras!? Seems like you’re letting everyone but my stinking nephew work here.”_

The sound guy stood up to explain their situation, but the camera guy swiftly pulled him back down. 

Daniel crossed his arms sassily, _“Seriously Jerry...have you never heard of a mixed family?”_

Out of the garage to save the day came Sean. He confronted the man, _“Is there a problem here?”_

Jerry looked like the grinch, the way his face was contorted. Obviously he wasn’t green, that would be weird. _“You’re running a filthy business here Mr. Diaz. Unprofessional employees, incompetent mechanics, my nephew could run you out of Puerto Lobos with his skill if he opened a shop. I feel like you have some kind of personal vendetta against me now.”_

The camera zoomed over to Sean making **that** face. You know the one if you’ve ever worked retail. _“Sir, we treat all our customers the same here. We won't hire your nephew because we simply don’t need any more workers.”_

Now Jerry was fucking fuming, _“I come in last week- just the little one. Alright. I get that. I come back to get my car- two white girls?! You say they’re family, I believe you. I COME BACK BECAUSE MY CAR BROKE- YOU HAVE ANOTHER MAN HERE AT THE COUNTER! Who is he and how is he better than my nephew?!”_

Everyone in the shop glanced between each other. Chloe was now in the room as well, standing with Max and the broom. All eyes fell to Sean as his lips began quivering. 

_“He’s my b-”_ Sean stuttered while he closed his eyes to concentrate, _“my b-”_ He looked to Daniel for help, but Daniel could never pick up on social cues, _“we’re da-a-”_ he looked to Max and Chloe for help, but they didn’t know what was going on. _“He is my…”_

Damián stepped in, _“We’re cousins.”_ He said, smiling politely. 

Quickly, Sean looked into the camera, it was quite a painful look, and then he turned to face Jerry. _“Yep.”_ He said. 

**

“COUSINS?! **_WHY THE FUCK WOULD HE SAY COUSINS?!_ ** ” Sean dragged his hands down his face and groaned, “Sweet home Alabama amiright? Fuck man...what was I even supposed to do? Come right out in front of a stranger and say it? This place is ninety percent old people- do you know how homophobic old people can be? Even the young people here are homophobic! Literally all of Daniel’s old friends here were just **trash**! If little fifteen and sixteen year olds can say stuff like they did to him...just imagine what an old man like Jerry could do to me!” 

Sean bit his nails as he swiveled from side to side in the chair, “This had absolutely nothing to do with what Max and I were talking about last night. I’m not afraid to make it official.” He said defensively, “I just don’t wanna say it right now.” 

**

Jerry stormed out of the shop as he ranted about how he was never going to be coming back, and honestly at this point, no one wanted him to come back. He drove away while his car made an awful chugging sound. 

Daniel smacked his leg, “ ** _Cousins?!_** _Wow, you guys are pussies!”_

  
  


**

The girls sat together in the shop.

“Us? Well, we actually haven’t told my parents about us yet. They still just think we’re best friends like we were when we were little.” Max explained. 

“To be fair though, we weren’t actually girlfriends until yesterday so…”

“Really, Chloe? Now's not the time...” 

“Sorry, sorry...but she’s right. We haven’t told her parents yet and it's been nine years. We don’t even think her parents are homophobic, we’re just really awkward around them. We freaking told David before telling her parents and we were SHOCKED when we found out he WASN’T homophobic.” 

Max uncomfortably crossed her legs, “When we visit my parents, we sleep in different beds.”

“One time I accidentally kissed her when we were watching a movie in the living room and her mom saw.” 

“I felt like a scared teenager who was just caught stealing alcohol from the kitchen cupboard.” 

“I had to be like, “That was a best friend kiss. Homies can kiss.” and man...it was so awkward.”

Max nodded, “She was like, “Best friends don’t do stuff like that. You should save that for a boyfriend.” 

Chloe’s eyes got wide, “Like what the fuck yo?! Best friends can kiss and so can girlfriends. Anyone can kiss. IT’S COOL.”

“Also how the hell does my mom still think I want a boyfriend?! I’m twenty seven and I’ve never had one before. Also...I hang out with Chloe…”

“And I **look** like a lesbian.” Chloe said matter-of-factly.

**

“My thoughts on best friends kissing? What kind of question is that?? Where-” Sean asked, his voice quivering in confusion. “I guess I’m neutral? I’ve never kissed a best friend. I feel like kissing your best friend is kinda weird...but do you?” 

**

Damián was next.

_“Oh man! I’ve never kissed a best friend, but I’ve never had a best friend to kiss. However, I think if I did have a best friend I would maybe kiss them once. Just to see what it’s like! When I meet people I put my whole heart into our relationship together, it doesn’t matter if it’s romantic, or platonic, or professional, I just LOVE people. And if the situation calls for it- I might as well show them I care. But also, loyalty is key- so I would never kiss anyone else if I was in a relationship. So right now, if anyone wants to kiss me: nu-uh! I am only here for Sean.”_

The cameraman asked him why he claimed to be Sean’s cousin earlier instead of best friend.

He went blank, _“I am really sending this relationship to the ground.”_

**

“KISS THE HOMIES!?” Daniel shouted, “I **ONLY** KISS THE HOMIES. YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT BY NOW!” He preached, launching himself across the room in the chair. “I’VE NEVER KISSED ANYONE EXCEPT THE HOMIES.”

**

“Hang on, no-no no,” Sean started, pinching between his eyes, “I have. I kissed Lyla once when we were in like tenth grade or something? It was awful. It was for a stupid party game and just- nahh, don’t kiss your best friends, it’s weird. It was one little peck and then everyone is like ‘oh my god you’re dating!’...” He explained in a mocking tone, “I just feel like maybe you shouldn’t kiss your best friend at a party in front of people, otherwise no one will ever want to date you again because they think you’re dating your best friend.” He nodded, looking far off, “I’ve been gone for six years and I am sure there are still people from that party who think we’re together.” 

**

“One day we’re gonna tell Max’s parents.” Chloe said. “One day we won’t need to pretend to be best friends who passionately make out while watching The Titanic.” 

“Pfft!” Max blurted, “They’re only gonna find out we’re dating when we send them a wedding invitation!” 

The camera zoomed in on Chloe; you know exactly why. 

**

Evening rolled around and the long day was finally coming to an end. Chloe sat on the floor in the garage looking up at Max while Max slurped up a straw full of iced tea and then released it into Chloe’s mouth. They did this many times. Too many times. 

Similarly to the girls, Sean and Damián were together and they decided to give dancing a try. The song Siento Miedo de Pensar by Rosario Alfonso played in the background while things did not work out. Sean was as stiff as a board trying to dance with a partner. 

_“Ugh! I’m not doing it right!”_ Sean whined, digging his foot into the ground.

 _“Hey, calm down. There's no rules to dancing; you just move around however you want. Also, you don’t need to stand up so straight- just let things be.”_ Damián explained readjusting their positioning. 

_“I...I’ll try.”_ Sean said as he drew his lower lip between his teeth and tried to force his shoulders to not be so tense. _“It’s not working. I’m stuck on tense mode I think?”_

The foggy quietness of the garage was broken when Damián roared like a lion and picked him up by the waist. Sean yelped as he was lifted off his feet and they spun around and around in circles until they bumped into the franken truck and began to laugh. 

Back over with the girls, Chloe now had iced tea all over her clean, white t-shirt, and Max was trying desperately to help her clean it. 

Sneakily, Chloe grabbed the glass and took a big sip while Max was hunched over trying to help her. 

“Chloe, I’m so sorry! I can’t believe I have such bad aim-” Max began.

But it was too late. Chloe interrupted her by spewing the juice out of her mouth like a fountain. Max cringed in disgust as the droplets of iced tea dripped down her chin. 

“Pay back.” Chloe said simply, smiling from ear to ear.

The camera panned over to lonely Daniel standing outside the garage window, looking in and watching all his friends make-out with each other and be happy and in love. How immaculate was is that both wlw and mlm pairs ended up making out at the exact same time. The universe said it was meant to be. 

**

The camera crew joined Daniel outside on the back deck where he stood...all alone. 

“Pfft! I’m not jealous of them! I don’t want someone to spit juice in my face- that's nasty! Like literally nasty- no cap. And I definitely don’t wanna be Sean because I hate Sean. Slow dancing? No way. I don’t do boring dancing. Plus, Sean can’t dance, so I’m just embarrassed for him.” Daniel stated confidently.

The camera panned to the window and zoomed in on Max and Chloe cradling each other’s faces and saying what looked like “I love you” over and over again, and his brother and Damián continuing to dance completely wrapped in each other’s arms, occasionally whispering something into each other’s ears.

Daniel’s expression went from mildly disgruntled to just sad. 

“Hey bud...it’s gonna be okay.” The sound guy said.

**

After the sound guy spoke for the first time, the camera crew decided to take Daniel away from everything going on inside the garage and over to a nice spot in the sand. There was good golden hour lighting right underneath a big palm tree, and the leaves cast some pretty sick shadows. Just because they didn’t seem like the most professional crew ever, they still knew a pretty good amount of the technical stuff. 

“I’m not jealous of them…” Daniel said, picking up handfuls of sand and then letting it slowly pour out like a waterfall. “But seeing everyone be like that kinda makes me miss Rey a little bit. I don’t know, you guys dug up some bad shit with all your questions the other day.” 

“We’re sorry-” The sound guy started to say.

“It’s not your fault."

“Uh-”

Daniel’s eyes drifted towards the ground and he let out a sigh. “It’s been a whole year now and I still haven’t made any new friends. I don’t think I’m cut out for having best friends because every time I seem to make one something always happens to us and then I never get to see them again.”

“That's what happened to us!” The sound guy said, “We’ve known each other since middle school, but then he went to a different high school and I thought I lost my best friend too. But turns out- we were going to the same collage!” 

“And now we’re gonna get kicked out of the same collage for not handing in our final assignment...and for skipping an extra week of class…” Said the camera guy.

Daniel scowled, “I thought we were talking about my problems?”

The camera cut.

“I feel like Rey and I were sorta a little bit like Max and Chloe sometimes cuz we were super close and were pretty much best friends. But we weren’t that gross, I still can’t believe they were drinking out of each other’s mouths!” Daniel shook that memory out of his head, “But also sometimes we were a little bit like Sean and Damián a little bit...but not really. I would’ve never called Rey my cousin to avoid being called names. I don’t care what people think of me- cuz I do whatever I want. Most of the time.” He added.

“Did people ever bully you for-”

Daniel nodded aggressively, “OH YEAH. I have been bullied for everything under the sun! Last year, after Rey and I went on that first ‘friend date’ Emilio asked what we did on the weekend, and Rey accidentally told him.” Daniel covered his face with his hands, “It was just a downhill spiral from there. Em was like, _“Ew what?! You guys went out?”_ and I was like, _“More like friends…”_ because I didn’t want Rey to get picked on or anything, but it happened anyway cuz Em called him a really bad slur for gay in Spanish...and then a whole list of other really bad names that I probably shouldn’t say…” Daniel explained, raising his brows in emphasis. “Sean told me before never to say any slur words at all and I trust him on that.” He said.

He readjusted his sitting position and took a deep breath while nervously fidgeting and banging his fist on his leg a few times. “And then after that Rey had to lie, and it made me feel so shitty that he had to lie about something like that to someone who used to be his best friend. I told Em that he wasn’t allowed to say words like that to people, but he didn’t care, right. He’s edgy like that. _"You don't need to stand up for a…like him. Unless you're one too."_ " Daniel took a sharp inhale, “I panicked and I was angry, and sometimes when that happens I am capable of some pretty gnarly power moves. SO I said that I was- even though I don’t really know what the fuck I am- and I kissed him.” His voice buckled on the last part and he shook his head as though he had just had a bad burp, “Anyway...now I get to brag to people and say that my first kiss was an absolute power move that I did while standing up for my friend. Can you say the same Imperial scum? Hmpf." He tried to laugh at his own joke, but alas, he was beginning to blubber.

The camera cut again and it was ever so slightly darker outside. Daniel looked a lot rougher than he did before. 

"After I kissed him, Nat and Emilio were like "ha fuck this!" and they haven't talked to me since, but that's okay because I don’t need friends; they disappoint me, obviously. Rey got super duper frazzle-dazzled and I'm not gonna lie, I was a little shaken up too. So I just went home. Fuck school- I don’t care! The power moves are very fleeting. I am not that cool all the time." He said, wiping his eyes with sandy handys. “I told Sean about it when I got home and he was super cool with it, and I guess I know why now- which really makes me feel like I never ever wanna kiss anyone ever again, so maybe it’s a good thing Rey’s gone forever.”

“That was very nice that you stood up for someone like that. I’m sure Rey appreciated you right then.” The sound guy said sweetly. 

Daniel almost choked on his spit, “MHMM! He told me one night when we were hanging out by the water near the lighthouse. He said it felt nice to have someone stand up for him for once instead of just pretend nothing ever happened. Although...we didn’t talk about what happened for like a whole month, so I guess we kinda did pretend it never happened.”

“But that’s different right? It was like a mutual agreement, and not someone throwing him under the bus. You both just...forgot about it.” The sound guy said.

“Well…” he kneaded his shoulder, “I think maybe sometimes he wanted to bring it up, but I didn’t know how to be serious about it. Sometimes I wanted to bring it up too but it felt so awkward. I get that gene from Sean- he is always awkward.” Daniel laughed bitterly, “Anyway, we did end up talking about it a little that night…” hir nose crinkled, “he just kissed me and I was all like **WOAH** and I had to stop that crazy shit...but also like five seconds later I was like “whatever” and it happened again. Totally last minute decision, was not planned, sometimes I do funky stuff like that, I don’t know what to tell ya?” He covered frantically, “Rey was happy, I was...fine.”

Out of the blue he no longer sounded weepy, and he held his middle finger up to the camera with a sniffle, “I got to know in my heart that at that moment I had officially kissed more boys than Sean, so uh- take that loser.”

“Okay.”

“Things after the...you know...mwah moment went a little bad kinda. He was leaving in like five days and it just...didn’t go well. It feels like every time I’ve gotten super close to anyone they always end up being taken away somehow.” He shrugged and looked up at the sky nonchalantly, “It was kinda too sad and I probably shouldn’t have done it, but I thought that maybe it would make him find a way to stay here. It didn’t. That’s okay though, I’m pretty good at moving on. Plus Sean let me drop out of school right after that- so score! I didn’t tell him about that though...no one but you guys know.”

The sound guy’s hand reached into the frame and he put his hand on Danny’s shoulder, “It takes time to get adjusted to losing a friend. Sometimes it’s good to talk about your feelings in a situation like this. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with missing someone- no matter what your relationship was like with them.” 

Daniel sighed, “I guess, it just sucks that everyone else I know has someone who just...likes them a lot, and someone to always be with, and I just don’t get that anymore. But I’m okay. It’s not that bad after talking to you guys.” 

“We’ll always be here for you Daniel. You are a valued member of the cast.” 

He nodded happily, “Thanks...you too.” 

**

Damián stood outside at the front of the shop with his bag hung over his shoulder and his dog by his side. 

_“Sometimes love is taking a few steps backward and maybe even more to give to the happiness of the person you love. Moving around just lets you experience more life. We’re very lucky to have people around us that make goodbyes difficult. Also, sometimes people don't want you to get shot for them.”_ He said. _“I think that Daniel will be able to move on. He's got a lot of years ahead of him and will not end up alone. There are plenty of people around to date and maybe they won't be as cool as the one he had but hey- we move on...that's my advice for him.”_

 _“Where are you going?”_ The sound guy asked.

Damián shrugged. He gestured for Toro to follow him, and they began walking towards the sunrise by each other’s side. The camera zoomed until Damián turned and looked back around; he hadn’t made it very far. 

_“My house is actually the other way- I wanted to look cool.”_ He shook his hands through the air, _“Never mind, I...I gotta get going.”_

The camera followed him as he left in the opposite direction. He looked just as cool as the time before.

**


	21. Max the ninja strikes again

Later on in the evening when almost everyone had packed up and moved upstairs for the night, Max realized she needed to go back down and pick up her bag with her camera inside. The camera crew followed Max as she quietly tip-toed down the stairs, trying not to disturb Sean or Damián while they were minding their own business. Her bag was over by one of the filing cabinets in the back room, but she decided that it would be a sneaky idea to just poke her head around into the garage since the guys were being awfully quiet.

She held a finger up to her mouth before looking and tried to suppress her giggling. Max immediately pulled her head back around the corner and her jaw DROPPED. Unsurly, the camera approached her, but Max waved her hands in the air signaling NO.

_ “Open the safe and we’ll have no problems, Diaz.”  _ An unfamiliar voice said, his voice trembling. 

Max held her fingers in the shape of a gun and pretended to go  **bang bang!** Obviously the cameraman understood and hid on the opposite side of the backroom for the best view of the action. The camera crew had no morals. 

There were three new people standing in the garage; a tall guy, much taller than both Sean and Damián; just a real hunk in cargo shorts, a woman, who was also hunky and tall, and another man who seemed to be the main instigator. He had the word HELL tattooed on his chest. Absolute pipsqueak.

**

Sean sat in the garage all alone, the back of his head resting on the Chloe-Price-Franken truck. 

“Yeah...we knew them-'' Sean slurred, “they come ‘round every other weeken’ it seem. A couple weekzz ago I finally got Daniel to just let ‘em have it thinking that they would be scaaared of  _ “crazy demon possessed boy”  _ but here they are again. It’s like one of those stupid Facebook posts that say “Do th’ thing if you would go into this haunted basement for a million dollars.” like jeez...what do they think they’re going to get out of us?” Sean tilted his head back and almost tipped over, “We’re no' haunted!” He shot some finger guns, "Only by memoriez."

**

_ “Come on, you know this isn’t going to work out for you…” _

HELL tattoo guy angrily knocked over a cart of tools in the garage and stomped his feet. His hunky goons looked pretty disappointed. 

Max turned to the camera in panic and whispered, “What do we do?! Should we go get Chloe and Daniel-”

_ “You don’t scare us, Diaz. Not you or the demon one.”  _

Damián stepped into the action,  _ “Hey- shut the fuck up! Don’t call his brother that!”  _

In a moment of panic, the HELL tattoo guy shot his gun with his eyes closed, hitting the front window of the franken truck. Everyone flinched at the glass shattering. 

_ “Woah! What are you doing?!”  _ Sean asked, about ready to pounce at the guy.

_ “We’ll kill you for the money. We will!”  _ Hell tattoo said. Both of his hands held the gun tightly and pointed it between Sean and Damián; his hands shaking terribly as he inched closer.  _ “Just open the safe! OPEN IT!!”  _

Max threw her hands over her mouth and jumped around behind the safety of the wall. “AHH?!?! What do we do?!” She mouthed.

Like a true hero, Damián lunged at HELL tattoo guy, knocking him over. His gun slid across the floor.  _ “Sean, grab it and go!”  _

The camera zoomed in on Sean as he picked up the gun and fumbled to hold it straight in his hands. 

**BANG!** Right in the forehead. Sean collapsed onto the ground.  **BANG!** There went Damián right on top of the guy he just tackled. Both of the hunky goons also carried guns. 

Instinctively Max rewound time, right back to before both her friends got shot, the HELL tattoo guy had just knocked over the cart. Max had to think fast. 

She tried poking her head out further into the action and waving to get Sean’s attention.

_ “You don’t scare us, Diaz. Not you or the demon one.”  _

Damián stepped into the action,  _ “Hey- shut the fuck up! Don’t call his brother that!”  _

The guy shot his gun again and broke the window. Everyone flinched at the glass shattering, which was very convenient because Sean was able to catch Max out of the corner of his eye. 

“MAX?” He mouthed. 

Max held out her hand to show that she could reverse time again and try to figure something out. 

“BAT. COUNTER.” 

Like a newborn deer on shaky legs, Max sprinted over to the front desk of the shop and frantically looked everywhere behind the counter. 

_ “Sean, grab it and go!”  _ Damián yelled out, the sound of metal sliding across the floor followed after.

She grabbed the bat, but it was too late.  **BANG!** Damián was ded.

“HOLY FUCK!” Sean cried. “No…”

Max quickly walked back to her previous hiding spot and peered out to see Damián lying on the cement floor in a pool of red. She smacked her forehead and revered time yet again. 

_ "Come on, you know this isn’t going to work out for you…” _

The camera did a double take on Max since a few moments before in the film she was not standing at the ready with a baseball bat in her hands. She nodded. 

Once again, the tool cart fell over and the same scene continued as it did once before.

_ “We’ll kill you for the money. We will!”  _ Hell tattoo said. Both of his hands held the gun tightly and pointed it between Sean and Damián; his hands shaking terribly as he inched closer.  _ “Just open the safe! OPEN IT!!”  _

While their backs were all turned and they faced the safes, Max tip-toed into the garage behind them with the bat in her hands.

Max swung the bat at the back of the male goon’s head, knocking him out cold. Then, due to some non-disclosed magical force, Max teleported behind the female goon and proceeded to SMASH the bat into her neck; also knocking her out cold. 

The HELL tattoo guy was freaked out, he spun around to face Max the barbarian, giving Sean the opportunity to literally- not figuratively- kick his ass. The man tumbled forward and Sean leapt onto his back and held him down on the ground. 

The garage was filled with ungodly yelling and panicking coming from everyone, it caught the attention of Chloe and Daniel, and they both came running down the stairs with Toro to view the action. 

“What the fuck, Max?!” Chloe shouted in terror as she stared at the two bodies laying at Max’s feet. 

Sean had the guy pinned securely on the ground, but could not rip the gun from his hand. HELL tattoo guy smiled with bloody teeth as he shot up one last time. Damián yelped as the bullet grazed his shoulder and then Sean busted his knuckles on HELL tattoo guy’s stupid face. 

“Damián, are you okay?!” Daniel called out as he ran towards him. 

He lifted his hand to reveal a whole lotta blood,  _ “Yes.” _

Everyone gathered around Damián to inspect the wound in an overwhelming fashion.

_ “This is all my fault, I shouldn’t have attacked that guy!”  _ Sean said, trying to hold Damián’s hands back from touching the wound even more. Luckily, Damián was not the kind of person to ever pass up the chance to hold Sean’s hands. 

“Holy shit, Chloe...I hit those two people with a bat...do you think I killed them?” Max mumbled, about to burst into tears. 

Chloe’s eyes were wide; she didn’t know what to do? Chloe pulled Max’s head close to her heart and rocked her from side to side. 

Daniel pushed everyone away and karate chopped Sean and Damián’s hands apart. “Let me deal with this situation guys. As someone who has been shot in the shoulder twice I know exactly what I’m doing.” He said confidently, dragging Damián into the back room. 

He pulled a medical bag out from under the desk and unzipped it. 

“Daniel, we need to get him to a real doctor! We don’t have time for this!” Sean said aggressively. 

“Relax, the bullet didn’t even go through anything more than a bit of skin. It just grazed him. Trust me.”

He promptly dragged Damián into the backroom and sat him down in the swivel chair; he began pouring some rubbing alcohol onto a paper towel. Doctor Daniel was in the house and Damián was in danger maybe?

_ “Am I okay?”  _ Damián asked, trying to look at the side of his arm.

_ “Yeah-yeah you’re fine. You just need a bandaid and some cleaning. Nothing to worry about.”  _ Daniel explained. 

Sean blew air out of his mouth as he paced around the room, “What are we gonna do about the three of them over there?” 

“Put ‘em in the van and dump ‘em somewhere?” Chloe suggested, getting some very shocked looks from Max and Sean.

“Aye-aye Captain Chloe. Do what she says guys.” Daniel ordered.

**

Damián stayed in the swivel chair after Daniel patched him up. 

He smiled,  _ “That was crazy! Wow! I really didn’t know what I was signing up for when I agreed to start dating Sean! If I would’ve known I was gonna get shot…”  _ He pondered.

Damián laughed and leaned back in his chair,  _ “Only joking. The bullet hardly hit me. I think I’d take an actual bullet for him...maybe? Is that extreme because we've only known each other for a few weeks? I don’t know? I just feel like I would need to because if I didn’t he could die! And I feel like I’d rather be the one to go because he’s gotta look out for Daniel…” _

_ “I’m just happy we still get to keep trying to be together, and I know I didn’t do much- but I feel like a hero today! I got shot in the shoulder.”  _

In the background Daniel yelled out,  _ “Excuse me, but some of us have been shot in the shoulder- not once- but twice! Check yourself.” _

_ “I've never had a brother, but I feel like you need a certain level of patience to have one. I would need to take that bullet. I don’t think I have what Sean has.”  _ He said seriously.

**

**

Chloe took Max for a walk outside to calm down after the whole arm x bullet situation was cleaned up. They stood by the shore, gazing into the water as the sun set. It was nice, but also not nice because Max was crying. 

“Chloe I don’t feel good about using my power like this again. I wanna go home really bad…” Max said. 

“I know…”Chloe began, her foot tapping anxiously in the sand, “You had to save them though, you couldn’t just let them die. Everything is gonna be fine…”

Max buried her head in the crook of Chloe’s neck, “How are we gonna get home? Sean isn’t even close to fixing the truck yet...and now the window is broken.” 

“He’ll figure it out eventually.”

“Not if he keeps dying!”

“He won’t die if you’re here. The five of us are a super awesome superhero team now!” Chloe exclaimed, holding onto Max’s hands and swinging them around. 

Max began to sob, “Chloe...I don’t want to cause another storm. I just wanna go home and forget we ever came here.”

“Well then...maybe you should sit down and have a talk with Sean? You know, see when he can get the truck done.” 

“He said he wants to take a shower and forget about all this…”

Chloe gently pat her on the back and smiled, “Dude, you guys are hella best friends now. I see you guys talking and getting along all the time. He won’t mind talking to you for a bit afterwards. I promise.” 

Max let out a long sigh and wrapped her arms around Chloe, “Sometimes you’re right. I’ll try talking to him a little later, right now I just wanna stay here with you.” 

**

Somehow, Daniel and Damián were simply not phased by the shooting situation, and that was exactly the kind of energy Max and Chloe needed when they came back inside. The two new bros sat together at the kitchen table laughing their heads off as Daniel played nonsense on his guitar. 

"Woahhh...what is going on in here?" Chloe asked. 

"Damián and I learnt a song together!" Daniel said proudly. 

"Awe really? My guitar lessons paid off then."

Chloe crossed her arms, intrigued, “What song could you guys have mastered within the past hour?” 

They looked between each other and smiled, “The Campfire Song song.”

“Let's gather 'round the campfire, and sing our campfire song. 

Our -c-a-m-p-f-i-r-e- -s-o-n-g- song.

And if you don't think that we can sing it faster than you're wrong, but it'll help if you just sing alooong.”

_ “bum, bum, buuum…” _

Daniel began to sing much faster, and Damián tried to mimic the english words. 

“-c-a-m-p-f-i-r-e- -s-o-n-g- song.

-c-a-m-p-f-i-r-e- -s-o-n-g- song,

And if you don't think that we can sing it faster than you're wrong,

But it'll help if you just sing alooong.” 

Max and Chloe had to block their ears because this show was a hot mess. Damián could not keep up. The notes were all wrong.

“-c-a-m-p-f-i-r-e- -s-o-n-g- song,

Damián!”

“Song! -c-a-m-p-f-i-r-e-”

“Sean!”

The camera panned over to soggy Sean coming out of the bathroom.

“GOOD!

It'll heeeelp, it'll heeeeelp, if you just sing aloooooong!”

They finished the song and everyone except Sean began to clap and chant. Even the dog clapped! Sean quickly threw his towel into his room and headed towards the stairs. 

“Hey- where’re you going Sean? I don’t know if it’s all that safe for you to be hanging out alone down there…” Chloe said with concern. 

“I just- uhh…” He started unsurly, glancing over at Damián for a second, “I need to clean up downstairs.”

Max piped up from her seat on the couch, “Oh! Can I help?” 

“No...no.” He said, his eyes continuing to dart back and forth from Max and Damián. “I’m gonna be down there for a while and I just wanna be alone.”

“Oh...are you okay?”

But it was too late. Sean was gone and the living room was silent. 

**

Tonight was Daniel’s night with his own bed, so Max and Chloe sat on the couch ready for bed. 

“I feel a bit better now...Chloe and Damián made supper for everyone and Daniel suggested that we all watch Hawt Dog Man together. I don’t care how old I get; that show is a classic! How many more condiments are there left for Hawt Dog man to fight??”

Chloe rubbed Max’s shoulder comfortingly, “We’re about to head to sleep now because today has been a seriously LONG day.”

Max stared into the camera guiltily. The camera cut off.

**


	22. Would ya believe it, now Sean has feelings

The camera crew discreetly followed Max down the stairs and into the garage; she was unaware, but it has already been established that the crew had no morals.

Sean sat cross legged on the floor with his forehead pressed against the busted front bumper of the truck, and a half full bottle of whiskey next to him. 

Like the sensible woman she was, Max approached the situation cautiously and crouched down next to him, "Sean? Hey...Sean are you okay?"

He shot right up and looked around startled, "Woah?? Where the fuck am I?" He asked, panicked. 

"You’re in the garage. I just came by to ask if you were gonna be coming up to bed anytime soon?"

Mr. Disheveled Diaz dragged the skin on his face down, his hands sticking along the way. He made an indiscernible groan, "I gotta keep working on the truck. No time to rest. Never gonna give you up."

Then he decided it would be a good idea to hit the front bumper with his fist, and cause another, among many, new dents in it. Slowly he looked up at the new dent...and then back down at the floor in disappointment. He began to sob.

Max hesitated to place her hand on his shoulder, "S-sean?"

"JUST GET A NEW FUCKIGN TRUCK, OKAY?! I can't fix this...I can't do anything." He cried, slumping further down, and sliding under the truck in confusion. "Who are you even?” 

"Oh dear, buddy…" she mumbled under her breath, "we gotta get you some water.”

Although he was still on the floor, Max was somehow able to manage to get Sean situated upright and rehydrated. They sat in silence together for a while and flicked around the broken pieces of glass from the truck’s windshield. 

“Do you feel any better now?” Max asked.

Sean pushed his puke bin away from him, “Mmm...it’s too soon to tell. Thanks for the water though.”

Max took a deep breath. 

**

“My original plan was to ask about the truck and all that because earlier today all I wanted to do was leave. I still wanna leave…” 

Max looked behind her shoulder into the garage, “but we’re friends now and I had to make sure he was okay. The truck can wait.”

**

“Sorry if I’m intruding...but why are you so upset tonight?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” 

Max paused, “No?”

Sean buried his head in his knees and kicked his empty water bottle across the room.

“Is this about everything that happened earlier?” 

“Pfft...sorta.”

Max nervously fidgeted with her fingers, “Is this about you know...Damián?”

“No.” He said. The camera zoomed. Sean looked up and nodded sadly. “Yeah…” He mumbled.

“He’s totally okay now! You should’ve seen him earlier with Daniel- they learnt a whole song together!” She explained. 

That was not the right thing to say at all; Sean started bawling. She didn’t want to do it, but this called for a rewind. 

“Damián isn’t even upset about this whole thing. He still likes you even after everything, I don’t think you need to worry about him.” She tried again. 

For some reason this one made Sean cry even harder than last time. Max smacked her forehead and then rewound again. 

The rewinding seemed to continue at least a hundred more times. Sean was an unconsolable disaster and nothing seemed to be working. So, max tried one last time. 

“Sean...do you even like Damián?” She asked, exhausted. 

“What does it even matter anymore? I gotta tell him to leave because I’m just putting him in danger and he’s putting us in danger- and it’s the right thing to do! First he’s got guys trying to kill him, then I got guys trying to kill us. Who’s next?! YOu guys?!” Sean had to stop for a moment to collect himself, “I just..I gotta protect Daniel. I’ve made too many mistakes in the past and I can’t afford to make another.” 

Max perked up because this was the most she had gotten out of him all night. “You can afford to make as many mistakes as it takes to stay with him, as long as I’m here. Remember, I can fix things.” 

Sean sniffled, “Yeah, but you and Chloe are gonna leave soon, and when you guys leave I won’t have any second chances. I think I should just get rid of Damián before I get too attached.” 

That prompted Max to look him up and down, “I think you’re already pretty attached, dude.”

“I’m not.” He said,in defense, “I think it takes more than two weeks to get attached to someone.”

Max huffed, “Well, he’s attached to you.”

“I doubt that...but if he is he can get over me like everyone else does when they go through a-” Sean stopped himself mid sentence, “We aren’t even together-together, we’re just in limbo. We don’t matter.”

“Daniel likes him.” 

“Daniel likes the dog. He hates everyone I’ve ever liked and I don’t think Damián is an exception.” 

Max hit him in the shoulder, “I agree with him on that! He’s told me a heck of a lot about your dating history and you have such bad taste.” 

Sean held his hands up in frustration, “If you’re just gonna sit here and make fun of my shitty love life you can fuck off. I already know all this stuff…”

“You know that’s not what I’m trying to say. I’m trying to tell you that Damián seems different! He seems like someone who could be good for you!” 

Sean looked her dead in the eye, “How do you know what’s good for me?” 

She looked right back at him intensely, “That’s my opinion.” 

They both stared at each other before bursting out in laughter at the fact that they had just used a vine reference in a conversation that was meant to be serious. That’s what the world is fueled on now. Memes. 

“I don’t want to get rid of Damián yet…” Sean said as their laughter subsided.

“Then don’t! We’ll all protect you, I promise.” 

No words were spoken, but it was clear that Sean’s answer was no. Max wrapped her arms around him and gave him a nice big hug. 

“Do you know how many times I had to save Chloe from dying when we first started hanging out again?”

“Was it two?” 

“I stopped counting after seven.”

“Wow...seven. I gotta hurry up and fix the truck before we die seven more times.”

Max scoffed, “I’m trying to show you that even though every direction Chloe looked in got her killed, I still loved her and couldn’t part with her just because of a little bit of death.”

They both looked at each other slightly disturbed by that sentence. 

“That’s different though, you guys knew each other since you were little kids.” 

“AH- no no no. I knew Chloe Elizabeth Price when I was a kid. I knew Chloe Fucking Price for a week, and I wasn’t about to let her die in the girls bathroom thinking that no one loved her. You and Damián are kind of sort of in the same boat right now. I couldn’t imagine my life without Chloe for the past nine years…”

“The thing is, I can imagine my life without Damián. Literally everything would go back to the same exact way it was two weeks ago. It honestly would’ve been better that way.”

“Big whoop, you can imagine your life without him, but can you imagine your life with him?” Max asked. 

He shrugged and thought up an answer, “I guess...we’d be attacked by shitty people every other day and we need to rely on you to save us. Sure, we have some good moments here and there, but-”

“What are the good moments gonna be like?”

“I don’t know? I haven’t thought about them that hard...talking about this stuff is kind of weird, isn’t it?”

Max hit him in the shoulder again, “Dude! I don’t want petty teenage gossip about how cute you think he is- just tell me what kinds of things would happen in a perfect situation. 

His hand slowly reached up to grab his now bruised shoulder and he gave her the side eye before taking a deep sigh, “Erm...okay. I guess one thing I’ve thought of is walking along the beach after finishing a long day at work. I know that sounds cliche and cheesy- don’t laugh!” 

“I am the last person who would ever laugh at something like this! Don’t get me confused with Chloe. Keep going.” Max reassured. 

“Maybe...we could take Daniel and Toro with us too, and they could play in the water while Damián and I chill in the back and I don’t know...talk about what we’re gonna do on my days off?”

Max covered her smile, “Awe, that is literally the most realistic fantasy I’ve ever heard! That can and  **WILL** happen if you let it!” 

“I just want life to be as normal as possible. Weeks where I just work and hang out at home with Daniel are all that I want.”

“What else do you see in your future?” Max asked, wiggling her fingers in the air like a witch.

Sean looked at her as if she were crazy, “Uhm?? This might be far off, but family. Damián always talks about his parents and his sisters, and I just think it would be nice for Daniel and I to be able to celebrate holidays with a family. Daniel might be twenty by the time that happens though…”

“Seriously, you gotta stay with Damián. I’ve known you for even less time and I think it's safe to say: I would do anything to protect all three of you. You need to have a solid, healthy relationship with someone.” 

“Yeahhh, alright.” Sean said, giving in. “I’ll think about it. Thanks for talking me through this, I think it was good to talk about this with someone other than Daniel. Do you know what it’s been like relying on a sixteen year old for life advice for  **years** ? Sometimes I vent about something to him and turn around to find out he’s been slouched on the couch zoned out. Sometimes he tells jokes too, but they aren’t even funny!”

“Ah yes...Chloe has converted to that mentality too when it comes to dealing with her problems. It’s better than what she used to do, and she can be serious when she needs to be but...I mean you’ve seen her.”

“If she came down here instead of you we would definitely be lying on the floor so drunk.

“Oh yeah for sure. She’d be yelling at you to follow your dreams and listen to your heart.” 

“And I’d be sobbing.”

“And Chloe would start sympathy sobbing.”

“And then we’d get even more drunk.”

Max gave him another hug, “So is everything all good now?”

“Good? No. But...it’s a bit better. It’s a really good thing you came down here when you did earlier, you actually saved our lives.”

Max smiled humbly, “It’s what I do, ya know. If only I could save the lives of all the photos that were in my bag earlier...while we were driving the bad guys away Toro got into my bag and chewed them all up.” 

“Agh, that must suck having all your artwork destroyed like that. I’d be absolutely livid if a dog chewed up one of my sketchbooks.”

“They’re just some photos- and not even very good ones at that. Don’t let this steer you away from staying with Damián. I’m sure Toro is normally a very good doggy.”

“I feel like such a piece of shit for acting like this...I might stay down here to avoid embarrassment for a while.”

“That's okay. You do you. I’ll tell Damián to stop worrying about you for a while.” She said, standing up and walking away towards the stairs again.

“He’s worried?” Sean called out.

Max poked her head around the wall, “I already said too much. If you wanna know you gotta talk to him yourself tomorrow morning.” 

He shook his head in amusement, “Thanks Mom. I-” His jaw dropped. 

Max put her lips together and looked at her feet.

Awkwardly, Sean clenched his teeth.

“You’re-you-you’re welcome...s-son? Son.” Max replied, blinking harshly. 

The camera followed her as she shuffled off to the stairs again, she was fucking oblivious to it. Sean however, was not. He buried his face and made a deep, guttural groan.


	23. A bunch of misunderstandings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sean has finally figured out how to fix the goddam franken-truck. The only problem now is the team is shrinking.

At the crack of dawn the next morning everyone woke up to the sound of Sean yelling at the bottom of the stairs. Panicked, Max, Chloe, and Daniel fought their way to the stairs and barrel rolled their way to the bottom. They were just as alarmed to find  nothing as they would have been if they found  something .

“What's going on!? Who do I gotta bop!?” Daniel yelled boldly, holding his fists out, ready to go. “BOP-BOP-BOP!” 

“Max get the bat- get the bat!!” Chloe shouted, scoping the back room out for any bad guys. 

Max roamed around the room helplessly looking for the bat. She couldn’t seem to find it.

“Guys, calm down-” Sean tried to say.

“Who beat you up Sean?! WHO DID IT?!” Daniel asked, shaking his brother by the shoulders. 

Forcefully, Sean pushed him off, “No one!” 

Daniel relaxed for a second, “Then why do you look so bad?”

“I-” Sean gawked, “Why do you look so bad?!” 

“Shut up!” Daniel said, quickly wiping the dried up tears near his eyes from the previous night.

“I checked the perimeter; it’s all clear guys. This was just a false alarm.” Chloe said, putting her hands on her hips proudly as she strut back into the room. 

Soon after, Max came running in from the cash, “Guys, I couldn’t find the bat- but I did find this machete in one of the drawers!” She said, holding the large knife above her head. 

Everyone jumped back and stepped away from Max. 

“Holy shit!!” Chloe shouted, “Where was that thing when we needed it yesterday?!” 

Confused, Sean asked, “When did we get that?!” His head whipped around to look at Daniel. 

“ **I confiscated it from someone. I swear!** ” 

“OH reaallly?” Sean asked sarcastically. 

Max let the machete fall to her side, “Wait...what's the problem?”

Chloe and Daniel shrugged and everyone looked to Sean.

“There's no problem.”

Everyone groaned in disappointment. 

“What? Did you guys want me to get attacked or something?” 

Chloe sighed loudly, “Well- we got a badass machete now so…” She waited for the other two to nod in agreement. “I wanted to see Max use that thing.” 

Max stopped nodding and began to disagree. 

“Why were you yelling for us than?” Daniel asked. 

Excitedly, Sean skipped over to the franken-truck and popped open the hood. He ushered everyone into a circle above the front of the truck.

“I figured out exactly what I need to fix this!” He pointed inside the engine, “See right there, there's nothing. Your camshaft: absolutely demolished. While I was working on this at three am I decided to look inside the engine block and I found the entire thing lodged inside.” Sean walked over to a cart near the back door and used some tongs to hold up a long metal rod that looked severely broken and dirty. “Somehow, the impact from that rock you guys hit made this thing literally break through the metal engine block. I don’t know how you guys did that?”

Chloe bowed, “Sheer power I tell ya!”

“Anyway, I know exactly where to get one.” 

Max’s hands clasped together, “Awesome!”

“Not awesome.” Sean said. “I looked online to see where they were being sold, and all the ones around here cost at least thirty two thousand pesos.” 

“How much is that? Roughly…” Chloe asked anxiously.

Sean groaned, “Maybe...fifteen hundred.” 

Immediately Chloe and Max clutched their hearts and Chloe folded over like a lawn chair. They both lost their breath in an instant. 

“Wow. Can’t you fix the one we have already?” 

The camera panned over to Daniel accidentally squeezing it with the tongs too hard and then back to Sean.

“No.” 

Chloe blew furious air out of her mouth, “Okay...okay. Fifteen isn’t too bad, right? Right.” She told herself reassuringly. 

“Actually...I gotta replace the engine too. I-I’ve been meaning to tell you. It’s gonna be like four...thousand.” 

“Pesos?” She asked. 

“Dollars.” 

Max caught Chloe as her knees gave out and she dramatically fell to the floor in distress. 

“But wait! Good news: I found them really cheap somewhere.” Sean exclaimed, leading everyone over to the laptop in the back room. He pulled open a tab that read  **_Subasta de automoción de Miguel Ángel_ ** and had a picture of a heavily tattooed man with a goatee standing near a solid black muscle car. 

Daniel gasped, “Oh my god no way! That guy tried to buy me once.”

“He did WHAT?!” Max asked in shock.

“He sounds kinda like a porn star…” Chloe said, rubbing her chin skeptically.

“When Sean and I first got to Mexico we were living in Caborca and we were kinda there at a really rough time, so like if you were out late at night you were probably gonna get kidnapped.” Daniel said casually, “Anyway, Sean got out of work pretty late in the night time and I was sitting outside waiting for him and that guy in the picture came up for me. Luckily Sean came running out right away and was all like “Hey back off! He’s with me- leave him alone.” and the guy was like “I’ll pay you like...uh...three thousand dollars if you stay quiet.” and Sean and I had to cheese it.” 

Max and Chloe both looked into the camera; stunned.

“Oh ho ho, and then a few weeks later he came back into the shop Sean was working at and he started talking about how he sold the best parts around for really cheap prices and every shop in the area bought from him at his auctions and stuff. So Sean’s boss made us go to one annnd I almost got kidnapped again- this time by a different guy. If Sean wasn’t here I would literally be in a gang right now.” He stated. 

Chloe shook her head in disbelief, “Hang on- Sean, is that the same guy you mentioned the second day we were here? The guy who you said was an absolute last resort because he only sells stolen parts.” 

“Yes but-”

She put her foot down, “No way my guy. We are not going to make you loose your morals just so you can fix our stupid truck. We’ll find another way.”

Desperately, Max turned to Chloe, “Chloe...I really wanna go home, don’t pretend like you’ve never stolen anything before. You literally stole three thousand dollars worth of money from the handicap fundraiser when we were back at Blackwell.”

“You let me.” She said in rebuttal.

“He holds an auction every Friday at ten am down by the shipping docks. He has exactly what we need so I’ll be able to fix up the truck and you guys will be able to go back home.” Sean explained enthusiastically. “We just need to cross our fingers and hope that no one else wants to bid for the same things we do.” 

“And if they do..?” Chloe asked.

“Debt.” 

When everyone went back upstairs Daniel went straight to Sean’s bedroom, ready to tell Damián and Toro about their plans for Friday. He flung the door open using his power, hoping to scare Damián awake. However, when he looked inside the bed was completely empty and all the sheets were neat made properly. His eyebrows furrowed and he walked inside. 

“Damián? Are you hiding in here?” He asked quietly, heading towards the closet. 

As he flung open the closet door he was again met by nothing. With disappointment he looked all over the rest of Sean’s room until he came across an unfamiliar note on the desk. Curiosity killed the Daniel and he picked it up to read aloud. 

_ “Sorry this didn’t work out. Thank you for everything. ~Damián.” _

Daniel’s jaw dropped as he read the note to himself again. He looked up to the camera and the back down at the note, and then right back to the camera. 

“Ohhh shit.” He said in a hushed tone. “What the fuck are we gonna do?” 

The camera zoomed in on his face.

“Yes we. You guys saw this too.” 

The camera shook for no. 

“SEAN GET IN HERE!” Daniel yelled, causing the camera to fall to the floor.

**

It was the previous night again, and Damián was sneaking down the stairs with his bag over his shoulder and Toro all set up with a leash. The lights in the garage were still on and he poked his head inside just long enough to catch a glimpse of Sean asleep in the seats of the truck. He stood and watched for a moment and took a deep, deciding breath. With a look of pain on his face he turned around and snuck out through the front doors of the shop. 

The camera crew met with him outside the shop in the same place as the clip from the night when Daniel had some pent up emotions. 

_ “I guess...I guess I’m just gonna leave. You can’t break up with me- I quit.”  _ He said in a mocking tone,  _ “I’m not actually upset, I understand why he wants to get rid of me- I really do. I thought that when we talked the other night about this though...that he was being serious and actually wanted a relationship with me. I know two weeks isn’t a very long time to get attached to someone, but I felt something…”  _ Damián’s voice tightened,  _ “and it’s a real shame he doesn’t feel attached in return. Maybe it’s for the best that I found all this out by eavesdropping. I can get out of his life fast enough so that we both don’t get hurt.”  _ He waved into the camera and forced a smile,  _ “Thanks for trying to stick up for me Max, but my love is unrequited.” _

_ “How do you know all this?”  _ The sound guys asked since he was a character now for some reason.”

_ “I heard Sean and Max talking downstairs earlier and when I heard Sean say that he thought we were nothing I just left. I didn’t want to stick around and continue to feel worse and worse. I wish we could work it out but…”  _ Damián shrugged.

The camera crew said nothing.

**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have officially run out of prewritten chapters so bare with me while I wrap this thing up. I've got online school now, luckily I only have one class and it's like photoshop and video editing stuff and my teacher is the most easy going gal you'll ever meet.


	24. Subasta de automoción de Miguel Ángel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's uh oh time dudes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please excuse any mistakes, someone is kinda tired but motivated enough to write.

Max, Chloe, and Daniel all stood together in the backroom holding up a sign saying: Number of hours Sean has spent in his room. 

Max gravely uncapped her dry erase marker and slowly wrote down the number sixty three. 

In unison they all looked into the camera; deadpanned. 

**

Daniel nodded in the chair, “Yeah he’s been out for a few days ever since Damián left. We bring him food...sometimes. And then we see a little plate outside the door and like, at least we know he’s eating. He handled his last break up like this too. The one with Izabella. But also she stole a shit ton of money from us so that kind of makes sense. What the hell did Damián steal?” 

He paused for a moment. 

“Our hearts.” 

**

Now Max and Chloe were standing in the kitchen, taking care of the dishes. 

“Absolutely nothing has happened for the past three days.” Chloe said, sounding incredibly stressed. 

Max was drying off a cup, “Right now we’re waiting to see if he comes out to head to the auction. If he doesn’t-”

“I’m gonna beat his ass!” Chloe said angrily. 

Max looked at her in disappointment, “Chloe no. You can’t beat his ass.”

The camera panned over to Daniel on the couch, “Pfft.” He said, jerking his head, “I’ll do it.” 

**

Everyone watched in anticipation as the clock struck ten and Sean was still not out of his room. Now they were gonna be late for the auction and miss their only opportunity to fix the truck. 

The house felt so quiet without Damián and Toro around. If they didn’t have such important business to attend to, the rest of the gang would be just as sad as Sean.

“Well kid...looks like we’re gonna be doing the bed trade off for many more nights.” Chloe said sadly. 

Max was nearly in tears.

Daniel buried his head in his hands and stood up violently, “Not on my watch.” 

The girls looked at him confused, “What?” 

“NOT ON MY WATCH.” He said, promptly walking towards Sean’s door.

He broke the door right off and barged in. Talk about insensitive- my god. The camera crew rushed in after him as he whipped the covers right off of Sean; it was like a year’s worth of body odor had been stored in there. Daniel gagged.

Sean was really not handling this break up well. 

**

Chloe rested her arm on the back of the couch, “Yeah I’d probably kill myself if I ever lost Max. Deadass. I am riding on some dangerous ground...not to alarm anyone but people can die. They can just go poof sometimes.” She smacked her lips, “I don’t know what the fuck I’d be doing without Max?” 

She shook her head.

“Probably heroin.” 

**

“Get the FUCK up dude! He’s gone, okay?! He wasn’t worth your time in the first place.” Daniel yelled, similar to a drill sergeant. “We’ve got shit to do right now! You know what past Sean would be like right now? He’d be like ‘move on; get over it’ he was really good at that. Why is present Sean a fucking weenie?!” 

Sean turned his head off the pillow to look at his brother; puppy dog eyes and all, “Sean has been strong for too long. Sean just wants to mope.” 

Using his power, obviously, Daniel yanked right right out of bed and onto the floor, pancake. “Sean can’t be like that right now. We’re late for the auction.” 

He groaned, and then sobbed, “Sean doesn’t care! Sean doesn’t care about anything….”

Daniel pinched between his eyes, “You can continue moping when we get this over with. I need a big brother right now.”

“I retire. You’re the big one now.” 

The camera zoomed in on Daniel, exasperated. 

**

“You know what...I am pretty fucking annoying. I can’t believe this is what it took for me to realize why older siblings hate their younger siblings so much. We kinda deserve it sometimes.” Daniel said, “I hate this kid. Sean is the worst little brother on the planet.” 

**

Suddenly, Chloe marched into the room in the most domineering manner possible. Her boots hit the floor with purpose as she walked. She crouched next to Sean on the floor, “Son, you’re gonna need to get up right now. You’re the only one who knows where we gotta go, but you know what you’re not the only one of?”

“Whaaat?” 

“You’re not the only one of us, besides Max, who’s been through a break up. Yes they suck- but man you gotta keep living your life. You can’t put everything on hold for some guy who will not matter in a few months.” Chloe said.

Helplessly, Sean rolled over onto his back and looked up at Chloe with teary eyes, “But hurts real bad….” He whined.

“I know, son. But we all gotta move on.” 

“You used to be super good at moving on.” Daniel piped in, “What the fuck happened?” 

Sean’s eyebrows furrowed angrily, “I was never good at moving on! I just suppressed it all and now it’s coming out in one big go.” He pouted and crossed his arms.

Carefully, Chloe coerced him into sitting up, and then eventually standing up. She rubbed his back like a caring, but stern mother, and guided him out of his bedroom and down the stairs. 

From the sidelines Max watched in amazement as Chloe helped a grown man off of his bedroom floor. She struggled for air.

**

Max stood at the top of the stairs after everyone had gone down. She couldn’t fix her words into a good sentence. 

“I- wow.” She blew hot airs out of her mouth and hunched over, “I just- Chloe man! Like...can this go off the record?” 

She waited for a response but a response never came. 

“That was- I just. Chloe could take care of my kids any day. Like wowzer- do I have...do I have a mommy thing? Ew no stop.” Max looked into the camera as if to say that last part was a lie. “What would I even be without Chloe?” 

Max laughed awkwardly and pointed down at her crotch.

“Dry- that's for sure.”

The camera zoomed in as she swallowed uncomfortably. 

“I am so sorry for that…”

** 

The ride to the auction was long and consisted of a playlist with only early 2000s heartbreak songs. Sadly most of the songs on that playlist were ignored because Sean was fixated on the song Hero by Enrique Iglesias and kept it on repeat. No one was happy but hey- at least he was out of bed. 

“I should’ve been his hero!” Sean cried, “I shouldn’t have let him get shot by that bullet for me. Now I’m never gonna see him again…I’m gonna be alone forever!”

“Awe, come on Sean...there's gotta be someone else out there for you.”

“Nope! No one will ever be a ten like Damián was. He was so sweet…”

Chloe leaned over and tapped Daniel on the shoulder. He had been disassociating by looking out the window. She whispered into his ear, “When’s his birthday?” 

Daniel had to think for a second, “August fifteenth.” 

Slowly, Chloe leaned over and whispered into Max’s ear, “He’s a fucking Leo.”

Max held her fist up to her mouth in a moment of silence, “Makes sense now.” 

The camera panned back over to Sean in the front seat holding onto the steering wheel with a death grip bitch. “Would you swear that you'll always be mine? Would you lie? Would you run and hide? Am I in too deep? Have I lost my mind? I don't care. You're here tonight.” He sang through his tears, “BUT YOU’RE NOT HERE YOU DICKHEAD-” 

“This is some wack ass fire sign shit, man.” Chloe said, “Rachel used to be like this...must be a Leo thing.” 

By the time they pulled up to the shipping docks, Sean had managed to clean himself up and it was like nothing in the van even happened. 

**

“Lyla and I used to pretend what it would be like to go through break ups. We’d take her Bratz dolls and make them cry with each other and then have a fashion show.” Sean solemnly bit his fist, “Jade helped Yazmine through so many break ups- where the fuck is that bitch now?! I just wanna play Bratz with Lyla and make Yazmine beat the shit out of the Gi Joe that broke her heart!” 

**

Chloe poked her head out the window like a dog as they pulled into a parking space. “Wow! It’s so dead here...guess being half an hour late doesn’t even matter.”

“Are we gonna need to talk to anyone here, Sean?” Daniel asked, looking at the group of people standing around a black truck, holding big ass rifles. 

“Sure hope not...probably just whoever is auctioning things off.” Sean said as the car came to a rest. 

Max held onto Chloe’s hand, “Sh-should we stay in here? Or should we follow you guys? We’ve never been to anything like this.” 

Sean had to think for a moment, “Nah, you guys should definitely come. I don’t know if I trust these people…”

“This place feels super sus to me.” Daniel said. 

“Okay well sometimes you just gotta do some sus things! It’s our only option at this point.” Sean said.

“Buy a new truck?” Chloe suggested.

The gang moseyed their way on over to the tables where all the parts were on display. There were about ten other people waiting for the auction to start, which meant that the gang had pretty high chances at actually getting what they needed. 

Confidently, they walked up to the man that was seen on the website. 

Everyone stood slightly behind Sean as he stood in front of Mr. Angel and cleared his throat, _“Uh- we’re here for the auction.”_ He said. 

Mr. Angel spit onto the ground and smiled, revealing some shiny metal teeth. _“Well if it isn’t Mr. Diaz! I thought you’d never show up...whatta surprissse.”_ He turned to one of the guys next to him behind his table, _“You ever heard of this guy? Sean Diaz: best mechanic in the area; runs his own business all by himself.”_

The other guy nodded at the statement. 

Daniel crossed his arms, upset at the zero amount of credit he was getting, and Sean’s face turned beat red. 

Chloe poked her head over his shoulder, “Dude, hold it together. He gave you a compliment- he is not your rebound from Damián.” 

Sean swatted her away, “I know!” He whispered aggressively. He turned back to the man, _“So uh, what do we do here exactly?”_

Mr. Angel picked up a piece of white paper on a stick and handed it to Sean. _“Juuust hold it up when you want something. It’s like a regular auction buddie.”_

Everyone in the ground nodded and went to turn away, but they were interrupted by a sudden question. 

_“You making good business lately?”_ Mr. Angel asked, taking a nice ol’ cig from behind his ear and lightin’ that shit up. 

_“Uh, yeah...yeah it’s been pretty good lately.”_ Sean explained, his breath tight as fuck- man was nervous. 

He nodded, _“Those your bitches?”_

Sean put his hands up in defense, _“Woah no!”_

Daniel leaned over to the girls and explained what was going on. Max held Chloe back from revolting. 

_“They’re our sisters. They’re just visiting for a while…”_

_“And you brought them to a car part auction? What kind of brother-”_

_“It’s to fix their car...actually. They’re paying.”_

Mr. Angel took this as an opportunity to inspect the ladies, _“Half price for a night with both.”_

Despite not understanding what was going on, Max and Chloe both gasped in shock. It was like they could feel it. The lesbian fetishization vibe transended language. You can just tell…

_“No way...we’re fine with full price. You can’t sleep with my sisters…” Sean said, taking everyone in his arms and walking them away to the larger group of people waiting for the auction to begin._

**

While waiting in the crowd Max and Chloe had a talk with the camera crew. 

“As two women in a relationship, yes we have been over sexualized.” Chloe explained, “Sometimes, you know, there's just no gay bars around so we gotta go to an every kind of person bar, and you know what- we regret it nine-out-of-ten times because there always either a forty plus year old man drinking whisky whos like, “I’ll pay you both to pleasure each other while I watch.” or a college frat boy who just can’t wait to have a threesome and thinks lesbians are the way to go. I don’t understand how they can’t get it through their thick skulls?? Lesbians don’t want to date men! If we wanted to date men we wouldn’t be lesbians!” 

“Amen.” Max said concerned, “We have been asked for so many threesomes, it’s insane!”

“Personally, I wouldn't be against a threesome-”

“Really?!”

“Yeah, I mean, if we knew the other person and thought they were cool...I don’t know it could be fun? Right?” 

Max shook her head, “I don’t know...I kinda just like you. Too many people might stress me out a little bit.”

Chloe agreed with sympathy, “I respect that. At the end of the day you’re the only person I’d be okay with sexing the rest of my life.” 

“Awe...Chloe. That’s so sweet. This is why you’re the only person I’d ever sex too.” 

The camera panned over to Daniel in the background having an asexual crisis. 

**

The auction dragged on and on and on, it was like someone knew the exact parts they needed and they had lined up those specific parts to be the very last things auctioned. In the end, they were the only people left, so they got the parts for free…

Sus

Sean, Chloe, and Daniel lifted the engine together while Max got to hold the camshaft all on her own. They slowly shuffled their way back to the van and proceeded to place everything securely in the trunk. 

Mr. Angel stood behind Sean and waited for him to turn around before speaking, _“So, everything good now? You got what you need?”_ He asked.

It was hard to tell what Sean was feeling? Was he nervous? Was he turned on? Lord, who knows? We’re going to hope for the first option because the second one…

 _“Oh yeah, we’re all good now. Thank you so much for giving us this stuff for free.”_ Sean said, shutting the trunk.

_“No worries. You won’t be needing the parts for too long anyway.”_

Sean cocked his head in confusion, _“I’m sorry?”_

_“Agh, I just mean...a mechanic like you shouldn’t need to pay such hefty amounts for parts like this.”_

_“Oh. haha, thanks.”_

Somehow, Sean was now pressed right up against the trunk of the vehicle. Yes, everyone else was standing around not doing anything. To be fair though, Max and Chloe couldn’t understand anything. 

_“It’d be a shame for someone...as good as you...to just stop.”_

Sean gulped, _“Sure would be. I don’t plan on retiring though.”_

_“Ah yeah. You’re too young to retire. Too too young.”_

Suddenly, Sean tried to make a break for the driver's seat, but Mr. Angel whipped out a fucking gun. Everyone seems to have a gun these days. 

In a fit of rage, Daniel dove head first between the two of them. But as you know, the story always goes like this...Sean got shot before Mr. Angel hit the ground. 

Max’s hands slapped over her mouth to stop herself from screaming. It took her no time to rewind. Could you say it took her negative time since she went back in time?

Before the situation heated up, Max grabbed onto Daniel's arm and held him back from the fight. 

_“What the hell are you doing, sir? Put the gun away.”_ Sean begged, as usual. 

_“You know how many of my clients are outta the job now because of your business? People aren’t buying my parts anymore because they don’t need ‘em, because you’re doing all their work! I’m doing the people a favor.”_

_“You run a filthy business- I don’t think I’m the reason you’re stolen parts aren’t selling.”_

_“And yet look who’s coming here to buy cheap stolen parts.”_

Daniel shrugged in agreement, _“He’s got a point.”_

Annnnd then bang! Sean was fucking dead again- and surprise surprise, Mr. Angle shot Daniel too! Max held up her hand just in time because a bullet was paused half way through the air and it was heading straight at Chloe. Max knew that another one could not bite the dust right then. Two was enough. 

It was again, back to before the hostility began. Max looked even more distraught than before and the cameraman had to do a double take on her sweaty face covered in tears. 

“DANIEL USE YOUR POWER NOW! GET HIM AWAY FROM YOUR BROTHER!!” Max yelled at the top of her lungs. 

Startled, Daniel freaked the fuck out and flung Mr. Angel far away into one of the tin garage doors behind him. 

This however, alarmed all the bodyguard looking dudes standing around the auction area. If you thought one man with a handgun was dangerous, how about ten who all came out of hiding, guns a blazing?!

Max’s nose gushed with blood and she swayed from side to slide, holding onto Chloe for support. 

“Daniel- use it…” Max breathed out, slurring her words as she fell forward, trying to reach out for something in front of her to grab. 

Before Daniel could do anything Sean was shot again by some unknown gunman. Bullets came from every direction, it was hard to tell where anything was coming from. 

This of course, made Daniel furious. He used his power to stop any of the bullets from entering their little zone, similar to the border incident of 2017, and in one fateful moment of fear and rage...man just blew everything up. 

The last thing caught on footage was everyone within fifty feet or so getting yeeted into the air. 

It was now dark outside, but the fire from all the blown up vehicles still burned brightly. Back at it again, the camera crew was on their grind. They had a back up camera in the bag- so it’s all good. 

The first person to wake up on camera was Max. She sat up next to Chloe and held onto her head in pain. She looked around at everything...it looked like Arcadia Bay after the tornado. For a moment, she didn’t do anything and just needed to process everything that happened. There were bodies everywhere and it made her visibly shiver. 

“Holy shit…”She mumbled, shaking Chloe awake. 

Chloe was just as unaware of everything that had happened hours ago. When she saw how bloodied and shaken up Max looked, she immediately pulled Max into a hug.

“What the fuck happened?” Chloe asked groggily. 

“Daniel...he-he stopped everything. My power i-it didn’t work again. Chloe I’m so scared! There's gonna be another tornado!” 

Chloe rubbed her back gently as she surveyed the area for Daniel, “Shh, it’s okay. Have you had any visions about a tornado?”

“No…”

“Then we should be safe, right? Last time this happened you were having constant visions...”

They sat quietly for a while, just quiet enough to hear quiet sobbing coming from the bushes nearby. 

Everyone managed to pick themselves up off the ground, And Chloe helped Max trudge her way over to the sound. The camera crew needed no help. They’re fucking invincible, we gotta give them credit. 

Daniel was kneeling over his brother’s body with his hands over the bullet wound, repeatedly asking for him to wake back up. 

The girls both sat down beside him and the three of them all starred at the lifeless body. Max didn’t know what to do after her power failed her...it was like Kate Marsh all over again. Chloe put her hand on Daniel’s back, and he madly shoved it off. 

“I killed everyone…” He said, his voice muffled against Sean’s chest.

“It’s not your fault. We were ambushed.”

“Why didn’t you use your power, Max? WHY DIDN’T YOU SAVE HIM?!” He screamed, punching the ground as he kept his face hidden on Sean and wept. 

“I tried,” Max said shakily, “but my power doesn’t always work...I don’t know what I could’ve done.” 

“What kind of bum-ass power doesn’t work all the time!? You’re fucking useless!!” 

Max was so shocked by this aggression, she didn’t know how to respond. 

“Daniel, calm down. You can’t blame Max for something she couldn’t control-” Chloe tried to say.

“MY BROTHER IS DEAD AND YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN?!” He yelled, whipping his head up to face them. 

“We need to get out of here, okay? We need to get you away from his body for now while we figure something out.”

“NO!” He cried, wrapping his arms around, smearing more blood on Sean’s grey shirt. “I can’t leave him! He’s gonna wake up. We’re gonna wake him up-” 

“Daniel, “Chloe said, firmly, “he’s dead. He’s not going to wake up. We need to get out of here and move somewhere safe.” She grabbed his shoulders again to try and coerce him into standing up. 

“Noo…” He whimpered, “Max bring him back. Bring him back! Reverse time again, please.” 

“I can’t go that far back…”

“PLEASE!!” He cried, helplessly trying to shake Sean awake again. 

The girls sat with him for a few minutes as he refused to move. This documentary had taken a turn. It was no longer fun. 

Chloe was finally able to rest her hand on his back, “Bud...we’re gonna drive you back home okay?” 

“We need to take Sean!” He said, sitting up. He choked on all the built up spit in his mouth. 

“How..?” Max asked, also crying.

Daniel looked back down at Sean and placed his hands on his cheeks, “I don’t know.” The sight of Sean’s face made him sob even harder and he was right back down. “I wish none of this never happened.” 

“I know...but there's nothing we can do about it.” Chloe said. “We just need to get out of here before anyone finds us. 

Suddenly, Max had an idea, “Wait…” She said, sniffling, “Does anyone have any photos from before today?” 

They both shook their heads. 

Max groaned into her hands, “Toro ate all of my photos from this trip a few nights ago. I was thinking I could try to go back using a photo...but,” 

“You can do that?” Daniel asked, intrigued. 

“Yeah...I don’t like to do it though. It seriously messed with things last time.” 

“Go all the way back!” He shouted desperately. “All the way.”

“To when?” 

“Before the accident- before dad died-” 

Chloe rightfully interjected, “No way bud, messing with dad’s living or dying seriously pisses off the universe. I ended up paralyzed from a car crash just so that my dad could live,” 

“I. Don’t. Care.” Daniel stated. “I don’t want to live here anymore. I would take any amount of pain on this fucking planet if dad could still be alive and Sean could be alive…”He said, his voice trailing off into tears. 

Max and Chloe looked at each other sadly, “Chloe...do you still keep that picture of me in eighth grade in your wallet?” Max asked.

“Max no…you can’t...” Chloe said gravely. 

The look in Max’s eyes said it all and Chloe took her wallet out of her back pocket. She took out a small picture of little thirteen year old Max and handed it over. 

“Be gentle with it...it’s my uh- my lucky charm.” Chloe said. 

“I don’t even know if you’ll ever get to see this picture again Chloe…” Max said, taking the picture in her hands. 

“I know, but still...in some reality lost in space we’ll still be right here in the sand.” 

Max gave a weak smile as she held the picture up to her face and examined it closely. Slowly, the sounds of a bustling school gymnasium filled her ears and everything when white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took me like a fucking century to write. It's a pretty pivotal chapter since Sean is dead FOR REAL now, but man I was just bored of it. If it seems fast paced or more stupid than the other chapters...tsk it's cuz it's a disaster! The chapters to come, which I have preplanned and written feel much more okay in my head. Get ready for some Rachel Amber content cuz baby I got chu. That one comment that asked about Rachel- I got it! It just took me a hot second. I got a bit ahead of myself in the tags, forgive me for my sins.


	25. 2008 again

September 12th, 2008

A large, white flash caused Max’s vision to temporarily go completely fuzzy and she clutched her eyes in pain. 

**What the fuck?** She thought.

“I know the flash can be a little bright, but we just need to take one more. Can you turn your head to the right a little bit, sweetie?” Said a young photographer behind the camera. 

Confused, Max turned slightly to the right like the lady suggested. Her eyebrows furrowed in fear as she surveyed the large gymnasium filled with hundreds of children. The camera flashed again and she let out an audible groan.

“Sweetie, I know. We’re all done now, do you wanna see your photos?” The woman asked, readjusting the tripod. 

“Sure...sure.” Max said, walking over to the camera. She was taken aback when she saw her thirteen year old self in the pictures. It was the same one she had just used to go back in time. The second picture was completely wrecked unfortunately; her eyes were closed and she definitely wasn’t smiling. 

“Are you happy with them? I think we could make that second one a little nicer, don’t you think?” 

Max looked up at the woman slowly and nodded, “No thanks...I’m okay. I gotta go s-somewhere?” She mumbled. 

The lady watched as Max stumbled away from the line and walked over to a bench on the back wall of the gym. 

**Holy shit! Oh no...I did it again! Why did I do this?! Time is going to be so fucked…** Max thought as she sat down and looked at all the unfamiliar faces around her.  **What am I even gonna do to be able to stop Sean and Daniel from ever needing to go to Mexico? How do I stop Karen from leaving from this point in time?! One time when Chloe and I visited David, Karen said that Sean and I went to the same elementary school for the one year I was there...maybe I can find him here? And do what!? Convince a seven year old to stop his mom from leaving? Ugh...**

Being in a gymnasium with a bunch of elementary school students getting their photos taken was incredibly overwhelming. Her eyes drifted towards a big clock hung above one of the entrances. It was almost three o’clock and that meant the day was almost over.

**Max, you don’t have much time left! You gotta find Sean and come up with something fast!**

She looked in every single line up for any kids that resembled Sean, but there were so many faces and she had no clue what he even looked like as a child. It was hopeless, that was until a little girl with straight black hair went zooming past her.

“Yooou can’t catch me, Sean!” She yelled. 

“Oh really? Watch how fast I can get you!” A small, miniature version of Sean called back. This Sean had both eyes and a pair of heelys!!!

Max looked into an invisible camera.  **Bingo.**

The bell rang at three and Max followed the crowd out of the gym, making sure to keep a close eye on Sean and his friend as they wandered out and back to their classroom.

It felt kind of stalkerish to follow two kids all the way to their classrooms, but Max had no choice. She needed to talk to Sean and find a way to somehow keep Karen from ever moving away. She was ready to swallow the little bit of pride she had in order to make his life just slightly better. 

Sean and his friend stood outside their classroom door tying their shoes, and that was when Max decided to strike.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about Lyla, Hawt Dog Man and Mustard Woman are a terrible match!” Sean explained enthusiastically. 

“You’re just mad because you want mustard woman all to yourself. Ewww, you’ve got a crush on mustard woman!” Lyla teased.

“I do not!” He said back defensively. “Shut up, that's GROSS.”

“I bet you wish you were…” Lyla’s voice trailed off as she noticed Max coming up behind Sean.

Max shyly tip-toed over to the two of them and waved, “Hey...hey. How y’all doin’?” 

The two children looked at her strangely, as if to say ‘why is this eighth grader we don’t know talking to us?’ 

“Are you Sean Diaz by any chance?” Max asked, trying to sound as sweet as possible. She didn’t really know how to act around kids.

Sean looked to Lyla for help and scratched his head, “Uhh...yeah. Are you the tutor my dad hired for after school?”

Her jaw dropped slightly, “Oh uhm-”  **Oh dear...I am about to put some poor kid here out of business.** “Yep! I’m your tutor today! Comin’ out here to teach you...history?” Sean looked at her blankly, “Geography?”  **Is this a felony?**

“I’m only in third grade, that stuff is for fourth graders. I’m learning multiplication.” Sean said. 

Max pretended to laugh, “I knew that! I was just checking to make sure you knew! Duh.” 

They both looked at her uncomfortably again. Lyla gave Sean a pat on the shoulder. 

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” She said. “Good luck with your tutor…” Lyla gave Max one last look up and down before spinning around on her heel and skipping off towards her exit. 

**This is so crazy! What the hell am I doing?! How am I supposed to fix everything...I wish Chloe were here to help me. I should try calling her in this reality...maybe it’ll stop her from being so mad at me when I end up back in Arcadia Bay in a few years.**

“Are we just gonna stand here or are you gonna walk me home and then teach me what six times four is?” Sean asked, pulling on Max’s sleeve. 

The resemblance between him and Daniel was uncanny. “Sorry...sorry. I’m a little spacy today. I think the camera flash messed me up a bit.” 

Sean nodded understandingly, “Yeah, the flash fucks me up too.” 

Max stared at him in shock. 

He looked her dead in the eye, “Don’t tell dad I said fuck.” 

  
  


It was a painfully long walk to 1452 Lewis Avenue. Max had never felt so uncomfortable in her life; she was terrible at making small talk.

“Sooo, who was that girl you were hanging out with? Is she your friend?” Max asked, trying to make some conversation.

He shrugged, “My best friend. Her name’s Lyla and she’s in fourth grade. I think our parents maybe know each other? I don’t know?” He explained, keeping his eyes at his feet. “We always hang out together.”

Max nodded uncomfortably, “That's cool. I had a best friend once, her name was Chloe. I had to move away this year though so…”

“Yikes.”

“Yep. Yikes.” Max said, disappointed, “We used to play pirates and go on adventures together. Right now I miss her a lot, but I know I’ll get to see her again someday.” 

Sean stepped up onto the curb and held his arms out to help balance, this greatly decreased their walking speed. “I would hate to stop being friends with Lyla, she’s the coolest, most fun person ever!”

“Oh really? What kind of best friend things do you guys do?” Max asked with a smile.  **It feels nice talking about best friends with someone. Maybe I should’ve done that in the first reality, it probably would’ve saved me years of feeling kinda empty.**

“Well, we like to have dance parties in her basement and dress up like rock stars sometimes. Her mom hates it when we get really loud, but she doesn’t understand that we’re just having fun.” He explained, “And when she comes over to my house we always play on the Wii together, or with her toys. Dad said it was weird once that I was playing with girl toys, but then he was like “whatever makes you happy!” so it’s cool.” 

**I cannot let that man DIE.** “That sounds awesome, Sean!”

“It just sucks though now that I got a little brother. Lyla can’t sleepover anymore because he is alllllways crying so loud! I swear- I get no sleep these days! I’m a growing boy- I need my sleep!” Sean shouted, raising his hands above his head so passionately he lost his balance on the curb and needed to hold onto Max’s shoulder to stop himself from falling.

“Woah, are you okay buddy?” She asked, helping him stand up straight again. 

“Yeah.” He replied, out of breath. “I fall a lot, but I just get back up like dad always says.”

**Haha...that is a lot of pressure Max. I am now morally obligated to stop everything. Haha shit.**

They continued to talk about nonsense all the way home.

**Just stay calm and act like you’re somewhere you’re supposed to be. No one will question this! His dad genuinely hired a tutor for him so...it’s not sketchy. I sure hope my mom and dad don’t wonder where I am. Wow, look at me, worrying about my parents again.**

By now they had reached the front door and Sean let himself in. The door opened to reveal a living room with baby equipment scattered over every single inch of the place. A loud screaming cry could be heard in the background. 

Sean casually began to untie his shoes and throw them into the closet near the door. Max followed him over to the kitchen island and sat down in one of the stools as she waited for him to unpack his homework. 

“This is my homework for my times tables...and this is-”

Max heard the sounds Sean was making but she could not pay attention to any of it; his words just trailed off into an endless abysse.  **It feels so surreal to be in this house right now knowing everything that is going to happen to this poor kid in the future. He has no clue I know everything about his future...or well...if that same future happens still. I can’t let it happen. I can’t let his dad die or him die or anyone die. No one can die here. I need to find a way to get Karen to stay. Oh fuck this is gonna chance so much.**

Suddenly Max’s body tensed up as a loud voice came rolling out of the hallway. A man with gloves up to his elbows and a face mask came walking into the kitchen carrying an ominously brown grocery bag. 

“Massive baby poop explosion in isle: your little brother.” The man said, shuffling towards the sink.  **That must be his dad. Wow...somebody just hit copy paste on these three.**

Sean plugged his nose, “Ew. Daniel is so disgusting! I wish we could’ve kept him at the hospital”

“Hey! Be nice to him, he’s only lived through half a year of life! Cut him some slack! You had just as much gross things happen to you- and guess who had to clean them up.”

He hid his embarrassed face, “Dad!” Sean whined, tilting his head towards Max.

His dad quickly pulled one of his gloves off and lowered his mask, “Oh shoot- I am so sorry!” He laughed with embarrassment as he walked over to Max to give her a hand shake. “You must be the tutor we hired.”

Unsurely, Max nodded and shook his hand (even though her gut told her she shouldn’t be touching that poopy hand) “Yeah...that's me.” 

He quickly put his glove back on, “We are so thankful for your help! You know, I would teach him all this math stuff, but clearly I am on full-time poop duty. Don’t have kids you two. It literally only involves bowel movements!” Sean’s dad said as he headed off towards the bedroom again. 

**What if Sean never meets Damián in this reality? I mean...why would he meet him? Maybe he’ll get to go on a nice, happy family trip to Mexico? I sure hope so. That would be so cool if they still meet in alternate realities. It’s kind of freaky to think that little Sean has no clue about all this, like “hey kid- you’re bi! Welcome to the club!”** Max cringed at her own idea,  **If someone came up to me and told me I was gay at thirteen I probably would’ve cried.**

“Sorry about my dad, he can be weird sometimes. It’s embarrassing to have him around sometimes.” Sean said, exasperated. 

Max swallowed hard and squirmed in her chair; she felt sick all of a sudden.  **It’s like he’s manifesting his dad to just go away. Oh god kid- don’t you know your dad is the most important person in your life right now! I can’t let him die. I gotta get out of here and come up with a plan.**

Out of nowhere, Max stood up from her seat so violently the stool almost tipped over. She stumbled trying to fix herself, “Uhhh can I use your bathroom real quick?” 

Concerned, mini Sean pointed down the hallway and Max scurried away and locked herself inside. The smell of shit lingered in the air but that was not what was messing with Max’s stomach. She quickly took out her phone and opened her contacts, the difference between the phone she was used to having in 2023 and the phone she had right now in 2008 was shocking. At first she couldn’t even figure out how to make a call and ended up accidentally calling Chloe twice.

“Max? Is everything alright? Why’d you hang up?” Chloe asked, it sounded as though she had just been crying. “Hello?”

Chloe’s voice sounded so different than what she was used to; Chloe sounded so young and innocent. Max couldn’t speak for a moment. “Hey...yeah. Everything is totally fine. I just…” For some reason Max thought this would be the regular timeline Chloe answering, and that she would be able to help. But this version of Chloe was only fourteen and had no idea what was going on. No one knew what was going on. “I just wanted to call you because I love you, and you’re my best friend...and I miss you.”

Through the phone Max could hear Chloe sniffle, “Thanks Max, that means a lot. I’m so glad you called actually...todays been so rough.” 

“I’m sorry Chloe, it must be hard starting high school by yourself after all this. But you’re gonna get through it Chloe, I promise.”

Chloe started to break, “I don’t know if I can…I just feel so alone.”

From outside the door, little Sean called out asking if Max was coming back. She covered the phone in panic, “Yeah I’ll be out in a second, just go sit back down.” and she waited until his footsteps stopped in the kitchen, “Chloe, I am so-so-so sorry, and you’ll never believe this, but right now I’m pretending to be a little boy’s tutor and I’m hiding in his bathroom, and his baby brother is literally shitting everywhere and the whole house smells awful.” 

Somehow, that made Chloe laugh through her tears, “Oh my god, dude that is so bizarre?! Are you okay?” 

Max smiled to herself, “Yeah it’s nothing, but right now isn’t the best time to talk actually. But you can call me later- or anytime you want. I wanna stay in touch with you this ti- I want us to just still be friends even though I’m gone. You can call me literally any second of the day and I promise to pick up.” 

Chloe let out a relieved sigh, “I’d like that a lot. I’ll try calling back when you aren’t...buried in mountains of baby shit like I’m assuming you are right now.” 

“Oh yeah! I’m just swimming in it.”

They both shared a laugh. 

“Bye Max, I’ll call soon.”

“Bye Chloe.” 

And Max hung up the phone. When she looked up at herself in the mirror she saw redness on her cheeks and rolled her eyes.  **Even when I can’t see her she can make me blush. I hope this helps us in the future...maybe she’ll finally ask me to marry her.**

When she turned around to head back out she accidentally brushed against a sweater sitting on the side of the sink and knocked it onto the floor. To be polite she picked it back up and folded it up, but as she did that a small baggie fell out of one of the pockets. Curious, she picked that up as well and opened it to see the contents. Max was a snoop at heart. 

**What’s this..? Money, a note, and a ticket? A TICKET! Oh my god...New York. That's where Karen told us she moved when she left everyone. No way…** Max examined the ticket closer,  **she's leaving in a month! I wonder if she told them all yet? And oh man, that's a lot of money saved up.** She flipped over the note,  **Apartment rent for THREE MONTHS! If I get rid of this...she won’t be able to leave for a while. Maybe it will give her some time to think things over and decide not to leave.**

She could hear the sound of Sean’s parents celebrating their cleaning accomplishment in the hallway.  **I need to do this. I need to fix his life and I need to fix Daniel’s life. It’s gotta work.** Max thought. In a moment of desperation to fix everything, Max stood up on the laundry bin, opened the bathroom window, and chucked the bag into the bushes outside.  **Maybe this will be a sign for her? Should I burn the house down to give her another reason to stay? No-no. No arson today, this should be fine.** Quietly, Max stepped down from the bin and flushed the toilet to make it seem like she wasn’t just in the bathroom throwing thousands of dollars out the window to stop someone’s mom from leaving. 

The walls around her crumbled away and everything went white again.


	26. Ahhh shit...he we go again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max wakes up in 2023 again, but it is nothing like what she expected it to be. She has, once again, fucked everything up. Only this time: it's somehow even worse.
> 
> And all you farts who came for some Amberpricefield content- here we go bby!! Mwah

July 29th, 2023

There was so much sunlight in her room; it was blinding, it felt easier to just keep her eyes closed for a while. From what she could tell she was laying in bed in a place that smelled like home. She felt relieved. As her vision started to come back, she could see a ceiling fan above her, which was odd because the ceiling fan in her and Chloe’s apartment in Cali was extremely broken.  **That's so weird, but I’m not complaining. Guess this means Chloe never stood straight up on the bed and hit her head so hard I had to take her to the hospital to get stitches. Calling her back must’ve given her at least one more brain cell.**

She stretched big and wide, her arm hitting a body to the side making her smile thinking about Chloe. She turned over in bed and fully opened her eyes. 

“RACHEL?!” Max yelled, rolling out of bed and onto the floor in shock. “HOLY SHIT- HOLY SHIT- HOLY SHIT!!” Max screamed, pushing herself backwards into the wall. She grasped at the floor and began to hyperventilate; completely captivated by what she saw, she could not take her eyes off of Rachel. 

All the commotion made both Rachel and Chole dramatically shoot upright in bed. No one in this bedroom knew what was going on. Also, Chloe’s hair was blue again, and her tattoo was not covered by messy, black scribbles.  **What did I do to you Chloe?! Oh god?!**

Max’s hands covered her mouth to stop herself from screaming again.  **How the fuck did throwing away Karen’s money make it so that Rachel got to stay alive?!? THESE THINGS HAVE NO CORRELATION!!**

Chloe’s legs swung over the opposite side of the bed and she groggily got up and walked over to Max. She squatted down next to her and gave her a sturdy pat on the back as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, “What’s up? What happened? Did you have a bad dream or something bud?”

Rachel scoot over to the side of the bed and looked down at them both, “It’s okay Max. We’re both here and everything is okay.” 

Nothing was making any sense at all. Max’s eyes rapidly shot between the two of them and she began to realize that nothing in the room looked anything like the apartment her and Chloe lived in; there were plants and tapestries everywhere- it looked like something straight from the room-porn side of pinterest! “I-I don’t know…” She stuttered, “Rachel you’re alive! Oh my god you’re  alive !!” 

There it was, there was that charming little smile, “Of course I am..? Did you have a dream where I died or something?” She dropped it down onto the floor and wrapped her arms around Max, “Spill it! I wanna know all the roles I play in your dreams.” She giggled, nuzzling her nose along Max’s neck. 

Immediately Max pushed her off, “NUH-UH. NUH. UH.” She pressed her lips together tightly and held her finger up.

Rachel looked at Chloe in confusion, “Max…” She laughed nervously, “you’re acting like...super weird. What the hell happened in your dream?” She asked, fixing the straps of her tank top uncomfortably. 

For years, Max had listened to Chloe go on and on about how cool Rachel was, and after seeing Rachel in person for the first time in her life...Max had to agree.  **This girl is high-key...hot. Maybe I should just go with it? I mean- this reality doesn’t seem too bad so far. Maybe this is the only thing that's changed? Could be cool...** Max thought hopefully.  **Why do I feel like so much more is fucked up and this is only just the beginning? I shouldn’t be selfish.** Max stared off into space as she lost herself in her thoughts. 

Chloe waved her hand in front of Max’s face, “Earth to Mad Max? Hellooo? You need a hit or something?” 

Max shook her head, “No thanks. I don’t do that kind of stuff.” 

“Woah!” Chloe laughed, “Says the girl who got mega fucking faded last night...dude maybe thats why you’re acting so weird. Maybe you got too high?” 

It just wasn’t making sense! Max scratched her head, her vision still slightly blurry.  **Me?? HIGH? Never. What has past Max done without me..?**

“How about you come with me to the bathroom and we’ll get you all freshened up, Max? You in?” Rachel asked, standing up and offering a hand. 

Although there was no camera crew in this reality, Max still decided to look straight into the lense, and she took Rachel’s hand and followed her into the bathroom.

  
  


The bathroom was even messier than the one Max knew in the previous reality. It was little indications like this that made Max feel like this life was a lot more reckless and immature. There were boxes of hair dye everywhere, empty soap bottles, no towels in sight- what were they?! Cavemen!? All the years of personal growth and progress her and Chloe had made before...all gone.

Rachel bent down to pull a few things from the cabinet under the sink, and Max caught herself in the mirror for the first time. Her jaw dropped and she had to squint to see herself clearly. Everything about her looked different. She looked years younger, despite being the same age as she was last reality. Her bangs were different, her pajammas were different- and way too skimpy for her liking. The old Max religiously wore Chloe’s t-shirts to bed. She even had make-up stains around her eyes.  **I don’t even wear make-up anymore??**

Rachel came back up holding a little container of cream in her hands, and she noticed that Max was squinting. “OH shit!” She said.

Max’s face scrunched, “What? What’s wrong with me?” 

“Your glasses, babe! You can’t see anything.” 

“Glasses? Babe?” 

Out of nowhere, Rachel put her hands on Max’s cheeks and examined the absolute mess she was, “Oh my god! Did you go sleepwalking last night and hit your head or something?”

This was new! Max felt like she was betraying past life Chloe by letting Rachel touch her like this.  **What kind of relationship am I in with everyone here? Chloe calls me bud and Rachel calls me babe, but we’re all queer so bud could be romantic and babe could be platonic.** “Maybe? I don’t know...I don’t remember any of last night?” Max said, shakily.

Rachel kissed her cheek and smiled, “Awe, you really did get too high didn’t you? I’ll go get your glasses for you.”

Max blinked quickly and her jaw dropped. Rachel skipped out through the beaded bathroom door, Max’s palm hit her forehead.  **What did this reality’s version of me do to mess her eyes up?! Stupid Max…**

She then began to think about how she was going to find out anything about Sean and Daniel and how they ended up. Facebook stalking? What was she gonna do if they did turn out to be thriving in this reality? She’d need to just learn to adapt to this life.

Rachel came back in and cheerfully slipped Max’s glasses on for her. Suddenly everything was perfectly clear again, and Max was taken aback by the fact that what she did in the past actually led to her messing her eyes up. 

“Wowzers...this morning sure has been weird.” 

“Who even says ‘wowzers’, Max?” Rachel asked, beginning to massage the face cream into Max’s skin.

**Me...I say that. Chloe used to think it was cute...I don’t think I like dating Rachel. Hmpf.**

“Hey, Rachel?” Max asked, “Did I leave my phone in the bedroom by any chance?” 

Rachel tapped her chin, “Huh...I think you might’ve left it in the living room last night? You want me to go check?”

The thought of seeing what the living room looked like made Max’s insides wiggle around like jello. “No-no, I can go get it. I think I need to be alone for a bit anyway.”

“Still shaken up from that nightmare? You sure do have nightmares a lot Max, maybe we should try meditation or something? It could be fun for us, right?” Rachel suggested, sliding her hands down Max’s arms and swinging them from side to side. 

In the mast casual way possible, Max shook Rachel off of her. It was a very conflicting feeling. “Meditation sounds a-okay, but I gotta scoot.”  **Ugh- ‘a-okay’ and ‘i gotta scoot’?? Max you’re gonna make her hate you! Why can’t you just talk to hot people normally? I am literally in charge of your fate, Rachel- stop testing me!**

She swiftly turned out of the bathroom and headed out towards the living room in a panic. She felt like the Mr. Krabs meme, the radical spiral one. It was an odd feeling. 

The living room differed vastly to the one she was used to. All the curtains were closed and LED lights lit up the dingy room, making it feel like some sort of rave house. It made her introverted soul feel uncomfortable. Her heart hurt for this version of Max she had no clue about,  **what has this poor girl gone through?**

She spotted her phone fairly fast and marched over to it. When she turned on the screen she was met by a group picture of her and Rachel hugging, while Chloe stood off to the side. It was a real head scratcher.  **Am I dating Rachel only?? Why do we all sleep in the same bed?? Is this polyamorous? I don’t know...it doesn’t seem too fair if Chloe just chills on the sidelines like that.**

The first thing Max thought to do was check the weather to see where she was located, and to her surprise they were in Portland, Oregon. Startled, she dropped her phone onto the floor as Chloe walked into the room and set her bag down at the front door. Max tried to make eye contact with her, but Chloe hardly even looked in her direction. 

“Are you...going somewhere?” Max asked, picking her phone up. 

“Yeah, duh. Work. Like I usually do…” Chloe said, sounding annoyed. She laced up her work boots aggressively and sighed.

**Chloe has an actual job in this reality? Wow...that is a twist I didn’t see coming. I wonder if I have a job? I hope Rachel actually became a model in this life.**

“Oh. Well, I’ll miss you.” Max said, holding her hands together anxiously. 

Chloe just nodded and then walked out the door. It looked as though she wanted to say something but just couldn’t bring herself to do it. 

This interaction made Max feel very upset.  **We hardly seem like friends now...what the fuck happened here? Why did I go back in time?** Quickly she opened her phone up again and went on google to search for answers about Sean and Daniel. 

At first she tried typing in Esteban Diaz, and luckily the only thing that showed up was an ad for the garage. She felt a wave of relief wash over her because at least he was alive in this reality. 

Then, she searched up Sean’s name, and to her surprise she found a facebook page filled with pictures of a happy guy surrounded by friends and his family.  **He even has both eyes here! What if...I need glasses because of this? What if this is payback for stopping everything from happening? I mean, I’ll take it. Slightly blurry vision is nothing compared to losing a whole ass eye.**

Using her excellent detective skills, she was able to find that he had made it into The University of Washington-Seattle by looking through a bunch of art work he posted. On top of that, it even looked like he had a girlfriend! Although Max was biased towards Damián since he literally broke everyone’s heart just a few days ago, she had to admit this Jenn Murphy girl looked pretty cool. She kinda looked like Chloe...Max didn’t realize Chloe was actually his type in the previous reality.  **Little stinker…**

The most recent picture on his page was a series of photos of him at a party on April twenty first of the current year. He looked super happy, especially in the first few. Gradually as the pictures progressed he looked a lot more drunk, **somebody had a good time.**

Max enjoyed seeing how his life had turned out happy in this reality. At least one good thing came out of this weird mess of a three-way relationship her, Rachel, and Chloe were all in. **Maybe this could be a life I could get used to for him? It's not so bad for me, right Max? It's totally cool. Sean's doing freaking amazing!**

Rachel broke the silence as she strut into the living room and flopped over on the couch with a bowl of oatmeal. She turned the TV on, it sounded like a comedy. 

“What’cha doin’?” She asked, fumbling to get the spoon in her mouth as she watched the TV.

“Oh uh…” Max tried to think of a lie quickly, “Just checking my emails, you know...adult things that we do, right?” 

Rachel rolled her eyes and sighed, “You’re so cute, Max.” 

Max didn’t even react to that, she was determined to find at least one tagged picture of Daniel on Sean’s page, just to make sure that Daniel was alive in this reality too. Scrolling through so many posts filled her heart with warmth.  **It’s so nice to see him not suffering. He looks a lot younger too...I guess stress really does age a person.**

“AHA!” She audibly blurted out, quickly covering her mouth to try to hide the fact. Rachel looked at her as if she was crazy.

She found one picture of Daniel that was tagged. The whole family- including Karen  **so that must’ve worked out…** were all standing around the Christmas tree in the living room. Sean had his arm around Daniel, oh the boy looked peeved to say the least. The series of pictures captured all the family activities they did that day, like opening gifts, Karen and Esteban making food in the kitchen together, and there were a few pictures of their grandparents too. **I'm glad this also made it so that Karen never broke ties with her own parents too.**

Max clicked on the tag expecting to see a bunch of Daniel themed posts about his interests and friends, she wondered how much his life would've changed if he never ended up in Mexico. **Hopefully he got to be a kid.** But instead of everything she hoped for,she was instead met by one post. One single post. 

It was a missing person poster. Not for him though, it was for Sean. From April twenty-second. The same day Rachel went missing in the previous reality. The day after his last post. **Payback...**


	27. Uncovering the plot from the spin-off series

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max and Rachel have a nice, long chit chat about all the missing pieces.

Max felt her stomach sink as she read the poster.  **Missing on April twenty second, twenty-twenty three in Sierra Vista Arizona...twenty two years old...last seen wearing a dark grey sweater with a wolf on the front...if you have any information please contact this number…** She rested her hands by her sides and took a moment to process everything.

**Well, this plan did not work out at all. It’s been a few months since this was posted, I wonder if he’s been found yet? Arizona is super close to Mexico, what if he still ended up down there anyway?**

“Max! Come cuddle with me! I’m lonelyyyy.” Rachel whined, grabbing at the air. 

Max looked at you. She looked at you and she was like fuck this.  **How am I gonna get back to the regular timeline from here?** Reluctantly she sat down on the couch next to Rachel and let the girl wrap herself around her like a dog trying to get comfortable. 

There were a few pictures hung up around the living room and Max took this time to analyse them. Chloe and Rachel were great models; they really knew how to pose together. At least Max was still into photography in this life.

“Are you feeling any better now? You want some of my oatmeal?” Rachel asked, looking up at Max with sweet little puppy dog eyes. 

No thoughts. Head empty. Max had not felt this kind of gay panic in years. Rachel smelt like fresh Jasmine and maybe vanilla or something, clearly she was using all the good kinds of cream and it made little butterflies fill Max’s stomach. “No oats for me. I feel pretty...dandy…” 

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “Seriously is something up with you? Have you and Chloe been fighting again? You seem like you’re on the verge of tears.” 

**Fighting???? AGAIN?!?! Chloe and I are fighting in this reality? I gotta get out of here!** “No-no...it’s nothing to do with Chloe. I just-” Max thought about whether or not she should tell Rachel about the missing person poster at least.  **Maybe she’s heard something in the news that I don’t know?** “Have you ever heard of anyone named Sean Diaz?” 

Rachel’s nose scrunched in thought, “Don’t think so? Why? Is he bothering you? I’ll burn his house down- I swear.”

Max’s head shot forward like a chicken eating seeds,  **arson? For me?! How romantic, Rachel.** “It’s not like that, I- he used to go to the same elementary school as me, but now he’s missing. I tutored him before so that's how I know him.” Max explained, trying to be less-concerned than she actually was.

Picking up the phone in Max’s hand, Rachel examined the picture, “Huh...we were in Sierra Vista during that week of April too. That’s so odd.” 

“Hold on...we went to Arizona? Why?” Max asked.  **What if we did something that led to him going missing?**

“You don’t remember a trip from like three months ago, but you remember the grown up version of a kid you tutored when you were little?”

Max said nothing and just hoped that Rachel would gloss over that. They were staring into each other’s souls. 

“Alright then, if you really don’t remember; we went to Sierra Vista to visit my mom.” She explained, “Doooes that ring a bell?” 

It most certainly did  not ring a bell, “Oh yeah, I remember now.” Max lied, “But uhh...what did we do there? Did we go to any bars or anything? Some sort of party?” She asked, remembering the pictures she saw of him at a bar that night on the internet.

“We went to a bar I think? Nothing too special. It wasn’t much fun because there was a gigantic group of rowdy college kids getting drunk off their asses and fighting.” 

**Sean must’ve been one of those people at the bar. I wish the camera crew were here right now, it would be so much easier to piece things together if I could actually see what happened.**

“We left like hella early because I got roofied without even noticing, and then you went back in time to stop me from getting snatched in the bathroom.” 

At first the words didn’t even register as she heard them, but when they finally did- oh boy. “Hang on!” Max’s jaw dropped and she promptly sat up straight, pushing Rachel off of her in the process, “I WENT BACK IN TIME?! YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT!?”

Rachel blinked as if she was offended, “Yeah, duh.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder dramatically.

“This whole time you knew?1?!” Max squabbled, “Why didn’t you say anything?!”

“I’ve known for years, Max. Why would I just bring it up like it’s something new?” 

They continued to stare at each other in silence. Max waited for the realization to hit Rachel. 

Violently, Rachel slapped her hands over her face and wiggled out of her slouched position, “OH MY GOD! Are you not the same Max I knew yesterday!? Is that why you don’t know anything that’s going on right now?”

Max nodded vigorously and Rachel gasped so hard it sounded like she could’ve busted her lungs open. 

“So you really don’t know anything that’s going on here at all? Like nothing about your life right now.”

“I tried to fix a mistake in another time-line and I ended up here. I have no clue what my life has been like for the past sixteen years and I am freaking out, Rachel.”

Rachel’s eyes widened at the word sixteen, and she began to fan herself, “Oh my god- what do we do!? This has only ever happened once and when it happened the first time you only forgot like a week’s worth of time.” 

“Oh my god, it’s happened twice in this timeline?! Why did it happen the first time?!”

“You don’t remember that?!” Rachel asked, shocked.

“Rachel, you were completely dead in the last reality I was in.” 

Rachel clutched her heart, “Oh my god,  completely dead?! What kind of sick world did you live in!?”

Stressed to the max, Max stood up and placed her hand on the back of her neck as she paced in front of the couch, “How long have you known about my power?”

“Since the Arcadia Bay dayz. I’m gonna assume you don’t remember those dayz, but six years ago you went to Blackwell Academy for a hot sec; you left like the second Chloe found out you were there, and we took you with us when we left again.” 

**Okay...so apparently Rachel was still alive by the time I got to Blackwell. How? What happened to Jefferson?**

“How did you be...still alive?” Max asked nervously.  **Stupid.**

Rachel laughed, “Sweet pea, you gotta tell me how I died in the first reality.”

Max gulped at the nick-name ‘sweet pea’, “You were, uh...killed by the photography teacher,” She paused cuz she hadn’t actually said his name aloud in years, “Mark Jefferson.”

“NO WAY.” Rachel let out a deep breath, “Are you for realsies right now?” 

Max nodded. “So, what happened differently in this reality? Did you ever talk to him?”

Rachel looked towards the ceiling in anguish and disgust, “I talked to him once or twice as if he was a normal teacher. But I was outta there like three weeks after he came to Arcadia Bay. Chloe and I ran away to New York so I could lazily try to get into Broadway.” 

“So he never had enough time to single you out and manipulate you!” Max said excitedly.  **Everything's coming together. Since I threw away Karen’s money for New York, Chloe and Rachel must’ve been able to find an open apartment to live in at some point. If they left soon enough Rachel would've never had time to get kidnapped.**

She held her palms up in the air and shook them around, “EWW- what the fuck!? He planned on killing me?! What the fuck did he do?? What did that monster do to this temple?” 

“He drugged you and took you to his secret dark room...and he took these disturbing pictures of you…”  **The thing about time travel is knowing that all these memories you had technically don’t exist** , “while you were unconscious...and then Nathan Prescott made you overdose, and then they buried you in the junkyard near where you and Chloe used to hang out.”

Nothing was said for a while after that as Rachel tried to picture everything. She stood up grandly, and clasped her hands together, “My death could seriously have been a Broadway play, and you know what…I’m satisfied with that.”

Max looked into the fake camera lens again and sighed. “Whatever. This doesn’t even matter right now. Rachel,” Max said in a super serious tone, “you need to tell me everything that happened in Sierra Vista. What happened when we were at the bar?” 

Now that Rachel was standing, she began to pace around the room as well. The two of them were wearing holes in the wooden floors, “I think it started when I picked my purse up off the floor after somebody knocked it over. Everything seemed the same when I sat up, but after taking a few sips from my drink again I started to feel the most sick I’ve ever felt in my life. So, I went to the bathroom and started puking. It was SO scary, but I just thought I drank too much…” She explained with discomfort.

“Keep going, what happened next? Do you remember?” 

“Yeah! I looked up from the toilet and I saw a man standing there. He didn’t look like anyone I had ever seen before, so I started to freak out on him, but since I was so out of it and sick I literally couldn’t do anything! He was grabbing me and trying to put something over my face and I didn’t know what was happening until I felt that we were outside.” 

“Did you see anyone else outside?” Max asked, taking a mental note of every single detail.

“I saw you and Chloe. You guys came running out right after I started screaming. I think there might have been other people around? I really don’t remember much, but I remember you said you saw a truck...I think you said I was about to be put into a truck with other people inside. Then you used your power somehow and stopped it from happening.”

**Well fuck. Sean must’ve been in the truck and I wasn’t able to do anything to stop that from happening. What if he got kidnapped and murdered because Rachel is still alive? The universe needs a number...if someone is spared, another person needs to go.**

“You literally saved my life, Max, and then on top of that you took care of me for three days after while I was super sick.” Rachel said. She gently picked up Max’s hands, “I know you’re probably super freaked out by this now because in your reality I was dead, but we started dating after that.”

Max’s stomach did an audible flip flop; she was kinda hungry but also incredibly uncomfortable, “We uh...we what now?”

Rachel let go of her hands, “We’re dating kinda…”

“That sure is funky.” Max said awkwardly.  **What do I do in a situation like this??**

“And if you’re wondering why Chloe lives with us, it uh- it’s kinda complicated. I used to be dating her, but then we couldn’t tell if we just wanted to be friends or not so we kinda cooled things down but still like to be affectionate sometimes sooo…” She explained, biting her lips, “since Chloe is your best friend you were kinda cool with sharing me and stuff. I’m sure it would make more sense if you actually lived through it.” Rachel shrugged.

**Chloe and I aren’t dating at all in this reality?! I gotta get the fuck out of here. I gotta find out what’s going on. I need to find that school photo of me again and get back to Mexico. Maybe I’ll be able to figure out a better plan when I get back to the regular timeline.**

“This is a lot to take in right now.” Max said, “How are you so chill about everything.” 

“I live for the dramatics, what can I say.” 

  
  


For the rest of the day, the two of them sat together in the living room and talked about all the missing pieces from Max’s memory. It was like a whole other story, a spin-off you could say. Max even got to explain some of the previous timeline to Rachel; everything about Arcadia Bay being wiped out by the tornado, and everything that happened in Mexico. Rachel now had two nickels for knowing people with magical powers and David had none.

Rachel found the stories about everything that happened in Mexico extremely entertaining and she promised that she would pay the big bucks to own a copy of the camera crew’s video.  **I wonder why she never got to become a star?**

They made plans to visit Seattle in the morning to see if they could find any more information about what happened to Sean.  **There could still be a chance somebody found him and he is all safe and sound at home.** Unfortunately, Chloe had work in the morning, so when they told her about their spontaneous trip to Seattle, she had to decline. Max thought that this was very unlike the Chloe she knew, but she had to remember that this Chloe had a whole bunch of different experiences she knew nothing about. 


	28. History is just repeating itself isn’t it.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max and Rachel hop on the bus to Seattle to hunt down Daniel in order to find more information about missing Sean.

July 30th, 2023

That night, Max didn’t sleep a wink for reasons that were directly related, but not limited to, the couch in the Amberpricefield household being even worse than the couch back at the Diaz’s, and being trapped in an alternate reality without the real Chloe. It is wrong to say she woke up in the morning, because there was no reason to wake up. 

Together, her and Rachel decided not to tell Chloe about anything going on, and they were going to leave once Chloe had already gone to work.  **I would never lie to real Chloe like this about anything. I just gotta keep telling myself that** **this** **Chloe has no feelings, she doesn’t know about us in the previous life, and she can’t hurt you. Alternate reality Chloe can’t hurt you Max.**

Totally not being suspicious, Max and Rachel sat at the small, square shaped kitchen table that had three legs and a box as the fourth, and sipped their coffee. They both made direct eye contact with Chloe as she glided across the room, staring right back at them in confusion. 

As Chloe put her work boots on her expression got more and more sour and confused; almost worried. She quickly finished tying up her boots and crossed her arms at them, “What the fuck are you guys doing? Stop freaking me out like that!” 

Rachel lowered her eyebrows in anger, “Stop accusing us of things, you’re literally so aggressive all the time for NO reason.” 

Max looked at the fake camera, you, and mouthed the words  **what the fuck.**

“I feel like you guys are always judging me! I have the right to feel things too. You guys literally wouldn’t even be able to sit there and judge me if I wasn’t the middle man in this relationship! I got you two together.”

“We don’t judge you Chloe-” Rachel tried to say.

“Whatever.” Chloe said, and she walked out the door.

Slowly, Max panned over to look at Rachel with wide eyes, “What the hell was that about? Is that what you meant by Chloe and I were fighting?” 

Rachel placed her head down on the table, “Chloe is just really jealous about everything right now. We told her that she didn’t need to stick around anymore if she didn’t want to, but she insists on staying because she doesn’t think we’ll be able to manage without her…” Rachel lowered her voice, “even though I think we’d probably be better off without her here.”

Perhaps Max was too close to the situation, and all her memories from the previous life were muddling up her head, but hearing those words come out of Rachel’s mouth made her want to punch a bitch.

“I don’t know what more she wants from us?? Like we thought a relationship with three people would work with us but everything is starting to go to shit! She’s just too wishy-washy with things. Plus having a one bedroom apartment doesn’t help.”

“Yeah, why did Chloe sleep in the bed with you last night but I slept on the couch? I mean, I probably would’ve been uncomfortable sleeping in a bed with you- no offence,”

“none taken,”

“but if you guys aren’t even dating anymore how are you just okay with that?”

“Like I said, it’s confusing. I like you, and you, the old you, likes me, and Chloe likes me- but only sometimes, and she claims that she doesn’t like you like that, but honestly I think she’s just lying to me so that I don’t get jealous.” 

All of a sudden Max began to miss the simplicity of Sean and Damián’s complicated relationship, at least their only problems were Sean's attachment issues and Damián’s inability to read the room.  **This** **is a disaster. I don’t even know if I’d wanna watch this spin-off series? The camera crew would be having the time of their lives here.**

“I can’t get anything out of her though. She refuses to tell me her actual feelings.”

“Does Chloe know about my power?” Max asked.

“Yeah, duh. You’ve used it to save her like a million times too. It all started when you saved her from getting shot in the bathroom at school.”

**Wait what?** “Hang on, she almost got shot in the bathroom in this reality too? That happened last reality! She was almost shot by Nathan Prescott.”

“Oh my god, no way!? That little pipsqueak almost killed her? Well, he didn’t do that in this reality, this reality it was some guy named Warren, did you know him in your reality too?” 

Max’s jaw dropped slightly, “He was like, my best friend back in the day...well for like a month.” 

“Sheesh,” Rachel pulled her head back in shock, “girl, I don’t think he was all there. He got super pissed that you only wanted to hang out with Chloe and I and not him, so he tried to get rid of Chloe.” 

**Well...that's bad. Maybe it’s a good thing I let the tornado hit Arcadia Bay? That place needed a serious cleanse from all the shit inside it. Tornado said vibe-check.**

“Alright,” Rachel started, standing up from her seat, “we gotta catch the bus.” 

“The bus? We’re taking the bus on a mission?” 

“Yu-huh. One; Chloe has the truck, two; I don’t know how to drive, three; save the Earth Max. Get with the times!” 

And that was that, they were off on foot to the number eleven bus to Seattle. 

  
  


The bus took them onto the road at ten am sharp, and looking at all the strangers around her made Max feel like an imposter in her own body. She felt like at any minute someone would vote her off the bus and she would be thrown out the back end.

Rachel was surprisingly unbothered by the current situation; she really did live for the dramatics. She sat there picking at her nails, humming a tune, and was perfectly content.  **I do not understand how her brain works. How is she not worried about trying to track down alternate reality Daniel? We’re literally driving miles away to introduce ourselves to a stranger! I’m gonna throw up. God I would give anything to just be back in the old reality. Chloe and I should’ve just bought a new truck- Chloe has turned into such a sentimental piece of crap after hanging out with me for nine years.**

It was a very good thing Max didn’t throw up seeing as they had an almost four hour long ride ahead of them. This seemed like the perfect time for Max to catch up on some sleep. 

  
  


Hours passed as Max had a dream about what was going on in the previous reality. She was back in Mexico with Chloe and Daniel; they were just standing over Sean’s body. Yep, seeing that was going to cause some permanent damage. The sky was eerie and dark, but not like before, this time it looked like a storm was brewing. She continued looking downwards at the body as a waterfall of rain ran off her hair. 

Voices sounded muffled, but Max could tell Daniel was still crying. Trying to look up felt like trying to run through quicksand; there was some kind of weight holding her head down and it felt like a hand.

“Max,” An echoed female voice said in her ears, “are you listening to me?” 

She tried to look away from Sean’s body on the ground, “Let me move- please! I need to save my friends!” 

“I’m not doing anything. It’s you.” 

“What?! What am I doing?”

Suddenly Max was forcefully spun around, and she met herself in the mirror from the alternate reality bathroom. The ceiling was leaking all over her head and the water had smudged all of her makeup down her face. 

“You need to stop, Max.” The Max in the mirror said. 

She threw her hands over her mouth as she felt her lips move without saying anything out loud. 

“The universe doesn’t want you to save people like this anymore.” 

Two hands crawled up her ankles: long nails and spindly fingers touched all the way up to her calves. She looked down and the floor was dirt. She was standing inside of Rachel’s junkyard grave. Rachel’s nails dug into her skin harder than before as her decayed mouth fell open. 

“How come you could save everyone else so many times but you never managed to save me? It took you _this_ many tries to save me _once_ _..._ ”

Max gasped and slammed her foot down on Rachel’s face.  **That’s not real. This is just a dream. I don’t even know you Rachel- we’ve never had time to meet!**

“You’re messing with fate, Max. The universe doesn’t like that...”

“But I need to! I can’t leave Daniel all by himself; him and Sean need to stick together just like Chloe and I needed to! I don’t care what I have to do- the universe is stupid.” 

The bathroom sink started gushing with water, catching Max’s eye for just a second before she realized she was back in the 2008 version of the Diaz bathroom. The front of her Hawt-Dog Man special edition t-shirt was drenched with ice cold water. 

She stood in shock for a moment until the Max in the mirror began to speak again, “Thousands of people  didn’t get to die because of this one choice you made. Do you know how many lives you changed because of this one decision?” 

Before she could say anything back, there was an alarming knock on the door. Of course, Max was polite; she was a guest in this house. She opened the door and found Mr. Diaz gripping onto the doorframe; holding on for dear life as strong winds began to blow through the bathroom.

“Save my sons! They’re all I have left! They don’t deserve to die, Max- you can’t let my sons die like this!” He cried. “I just wanted them to have a happy life!”

Max’s eyebrows furrowed in concern, “No one deserves to die sir-” 

With one big gust of wind came a wave the size of a mountain. It crashed in through the window of the bathroom and washed Max out the door. Right away she blinked and woke up again on the beach outside the repair shop. A few feet in front of her, Daniel laughed and stood with the hose. It was like their first morning in Mexico all over again. 

“I am the ruthless hose master and I will NEVER BACK DOWN! Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!” Daniel cheered, swinging the hose around in a circle. 

Slowly, Max pulled herself up out of the wet sand and saw three different Seans sitting around her in a circle. They all looked identical...the same lost and confused eyes, and they were all weeping quietly about no longer being able to protect Daniel. 

Max slowly scooted her way over to one of the Seans, her body ached the same way it did that one time she played ultimate hide-and-seek tag with Chloe and the friends they made in Texas. She placed her hand on his shoulder gently, and he turned to face her.

“What am I supposed to do?! I gotta find him again; he NEEDS me. He wouldn’t know what to do on his own- I can’t be dead! Not yet…” He wept, throwing slowly crouching into a little ball and tipping over.

**This is a dream, Max. Wake up already.**

She moved away from him and accidentally backed into the next Sean who was leaned over and crying in the sand. 

“I’m so sorry, Dad...I’m sorry. I failed at my own job all because I wanted to have a little fun at a bar tonight. I’m so sorry.” His muffled screams traveled up through his hands as he hit the ground, “Please find me, dad. I’m sorry. Get me out of here.” 

Max’s throat began to close and her eyes welled up. She didn’t bother trying to touch him; he wasn’t real. 

The last Sean approached her with his arms outstretched. Quick on her feet, Max stood up and caught him right before his legs gave out. She tried to help him maintain balance, but there was only so much dream Max could manage. 

“Because of you I’ll never even get to try to live a normal life now.” Sean said with deep rooted anger in his voice; very unlike him. “Everything I worked for is gone now because you and Chloe just had to see the batshit circus power Daniel has. I would still be alive if you guys never came here to ruin everything. IT’S NOT FAIR. WHY DO I NEVER GET ANYTHING?!”

She let go of his body and he went limp in the sand.  **You’re being selfish, Sean. None of this is my fault.** Max thought unconsciously. That wasn’t what she thought at all. She admired Sean for everything he’s been through.  **You’re selfish! You can’t blame your death on me!**

“I’M SELFISH?!” He roared, “I GAVE UP EVERYTHING TO PROTECT HIM. I HAVE BEEN BEATEN SENSELESS TO PROTECT HIM. I LOST MY EYE AND MY LIFE- AND YOU THINK I’M SELFISH!?” 

How could he hear her thoughts? They weren’t even her thoughts! Max slowly backed away from him.  **You could’ve just waited for the police to come. They couldn’t possibly have blamed the cops death on you.**

“You don’t know what it’s like to be in that situation. My dad was shot because he was Mexican, the cop thought he was dangerous because of how he looked. I didn’t even know how to explain the situation. Daniel and I wouldn’t have been okay if we let the cops show up.” Sean explained, his voice fading into nothing. 

As Max backed away she felt the water touch from the ocean touch her feet. It felt warm yet refreshing, so she kept backing up further. She watched as the three Sean’s disappeared over the sketched horizon.

With one final step, Max’s foot landed on nothing and the ocean just ended. She was now falling through pages and pages of sketches in Sean’s art journal. It was like seeing every little piece of his memory. Eventually she fell off the final page and everything went white in a flash. She was fully expecting this to be the end of the dream, but…

“It’s cool Nathan...don’t stress, you’re okay, bro, just...count to three. Don’t be scared. You own this school...if I wanted I could blow it up! You’re the boss.” 

And then a door opened. 

**No. I’m not living through this again. This isn’t real! Max, get out of this dream!**

“So what do you want?” 

“I hope you checked the perimeter, as my step-ass would say.”

Confidently, Max whipped around the bathroom stall, ready to stop Nathan from shooting Chloe, but she instead rammed straight into some kind of invisible forcefield. Chloe was looking in her exact direction but didn’t notice anything. Max banged her fists on the clear wall and called out for Chloe, but it was like she was invisible. 

“Let me through!! Let me help her!” Max yelled. 

Mirror Max waved from the left, over by the sink and walked right through the barrier. “You can’t save everybody, Max.” 

Enraged, Max yelled back, “YES I CAN. I CAN FIX EVERYTHING.” Max slammed her fists right through the barrier and shattered it into a million pieces. With nothing to catch her, she began to fall forward. Unable to save Chloe yet again, she began to cry. 

Of all the things, crying was what woke her up from the hellish nightmare. She jolted forwards in her seat and took a second to catch her breath. The bus had gotten significantly more empty since the ride had started, and it was now raining outside. After that dream, the mere thought of rain made Max’s stomach knot. 

Rachel tapped her on the shoulder, “Hey you, you’re finally awake.” 

For some reason that line sounded familiar but Max couldn’t figure out why. 

“Diiid you have a good nap? You were making an awful lot of sounds...like little puppy dog sounds.” 

Max didn’t know how to reply. She just wanted to go back to the previous timeline now. The alarmed look on her face when thunder boomed outside the bus made Rachel frown.

“Ah no, you had a nightmare didn’t you?” Rachel said, guiding Max’s head to her shoulder, “There, there, we’re safe on the bus. We’re almost at our stop so you’ll be able to leave for some air soon.” 

Max pushed Rachel away, “Wait, how long have I been asleep?”

“Like, the whole time. I tried to wake you up at least once every hour but you. were. a. rock!! Holy shit, I’ve never seen anyone sleep that hard before! I got so bored- I had to talk to this old fart.” Rachel said, gesturing towards an old man sitting in front of them. 

“Rachel...don’t call him that to his face…”

“He’s got like ninety year-old ears; he can’t hear me. That's why I was so borrreddd.”

Max looked at the old man with pity...he looked like he could hear just fine.  **That dream was not real. I had hundreds of dreams like that after the tornado too...they don’t mean anything.**

“So like, when we get to Seattle and we find the kid you’re looking for, are we gonna be able to go sightseeing around the city? I heard there's this coffee shop that has a wall covered in ivy and graffiti, and I think it would totally make for a great photoshoot.”

“We don’t have time for that today.” Max explained, unable to take her eyes off of the passing road. 

“Just use your power and save us some time, simple.” 

“Rachel, no! We need to keep our eyes on the goal. We need to find Daniel and see if he has any leads on where Sean is.” 

“Right...right. This is a mission.” As Rachel said that, the bus came to a halt, “This is our stop.” 

Half of the bus got out of their seats and began filing out to the exit. To stay together, they held onto each other's hands and shuffled through the crowd. It was quite hard for Max to walk after her nightmare, her legs felt weak and shook with FORCE. 

They both slipped coming down the steps and got their shoes all wet in the road side puddles. A new group of people walked onto the bus, disorienting them temporarily. 

“No way! These shoes were pure white before this! How am I gonna clean them!?”

Footsteps quickly approached behind Max and someone rammed into her from behind. Not to be a Karen, but Max’s initial reaction was to ask who raised this blue haired punk.  **Twenty seven does not make you old Max. You are young. Not legally a boomer.**

The boy whipped around and ran backwards, frantically pulling a map out of his bag, “Sorry ma’am- didn’t mean to hit you!” 

“It’s o-” Max started, rubbing her back in pain from where he hit her. 

Max’s brain went completely blank and she pointed two finger guns at the kid as her jaw dropped. It was Daniel. He looked just like Chloe did back in the day. Blue hair, tight slashed pants, big lace up boots, and skulls galore. It was a drastic difference compared to the alternate Daniel she knew with the flamingo coloured tufts of hair and beach bum fashion sense- or lack thereof. 

“Hold the door, Noah!” He yelled out as his friend whisked him away onto the bus.  **Annnd he’s gone in a flash.** His friend carried a similar shoulder bag to the one she carried most of the time.  **History is just repeating itself isn’t it.**

Before Max could efficiently react, the two teens were already finding seats on the bus and Rachel hadn’t noticed anything going on because she was preoccupied with her white vans. Maybe the white vans were an ode to Damián since he loved to say “Damn Daniel,” every time he wanted to start a conversation with the poor kid. 

The sound of the bus booting back up shook Max out of her head and startled her. She banged harshly on Rachel’s shoulder, “DUDE I THINK HE JUST GOT ON THE BUS! OH MY GOD! IT’S TURNING AROUND!” She said urgently. 

“Oh my god- what the fuck!? He’s on the bus?! How did we miss that!?”

They both stood in shock for a moment, until Rachel suggested that they start running after the bus. Unfortunately, Max’s jello legs were not the optimal mode of transportation; her head spun as she tried to keep up with Rachel and the bus. The sidewalk at her feet seemed so far away as if she was floating away from it. 

“Come on, Max! He’s getting away- remember our mission?” Rachel called out, miles ahead. 

“It’s too late. We missed him. Everything here is all the same. I didn’t actually change anything- I just gave different roles to different people.” Max said, gloomily, slumping down on the wet curb. 

Rachel groaned and walked back the way she came.  **What's she groaning about?! I’m the one who sat down in a puddle…**

“How do you know you didn’t fix anything?” She asked.

“Because it’s happened before in the old timeline too. I tried to save Chloe’s dad from getting hit by the truck, but by saving him it made it so that Chloe was the one who got hit. I don’t know why I thought this time would be any different?” Max explained, “You never went missing, and because of that Sean went missing instead. Daniel is Chloe, his friend is me, they’re both gonna go looking for Sean and end up traumatized when they dig up his body somewhere obscure in the sand. I’ve got glasses now because Sean never lost his eye…” She sighed and buried her head in her knees, “Everything goes together and I didn’t actually fix anything. I don’t know what to do now? I have no other options to try to save Sean in the other reality.” 

Rachel nodded as if she understood everything Max was talking about, “This shit sure is messed up, isn’t it?”

“It’s hella messed up. And look at what's going on now, “ Max exclaimed, pointing into the sky as rain poured down, “I had a nightmare about a whole lotta water and now it’s raining. Puerto Lobos? More like...Puerto Spanish word for tornado 2.0.”

“So, are you going to leave this reality and go back to the old one to figure out a new plan?”

“I kinda have to! The only problem is: I have no clue how I’m gonna get back? I used my eighth grade yearbook photo to get here, and I have no clue where I’m gonna find that now since Chloe and I aren’t dating.”

All of a sudden Rachel rolled her eyes and smirked, “You used that picture? No way…”

“Yes?” Max replied in confusion. 

“Chloe holds onto that picture still like it’s her lucky charm, bitch! I think she keeps it in her wallet or something? I’ve seen her take it out whenever she gets nervous, it’s so sweet.” Rachel gushed, her many bracelets jangling as she held onto Max’s hands.

**Chloe still holds onto that even in this reality? Damn...at least one thing here is consistent. I guess I’ll need to talk to her when Rachel and I get home. Oh boy. Contain the Sapphic energy- don’t mess anything else up.**

“If she lets you talk to her when she gets home around six you could probably ask her to lend you it for a bit?”

With the utmost concern, Max asked, “Should I tell her why I need it? Does she know about my power like you do?” 

“I’d tell her if I were you. Who knows, she might be able to fill in some more missing pieces for you that might help you figure something out.” 

Finally giving in to Rachels raw aura, Max rushed in to give her a hug. Sadly, it was a platonic hug- but still...as scared as she was, this made Max feel just the tiniest bit better. 

“I’m so sorry I dragged you all the way out to Seattle for no reason.” 

“It’s okay, I live for spontaneous things like this even if they mean nothing. I’ve only got one life, right?”

Max tilted her head and scrunched her face. 

“Bad wording, you’re right.” Rachel said, letting go of Max, “How about we go hit up that cool photoshoot location now that we have some extra time? You might as well enjoy your last few hours in this reality right?” 

Although she was soggy and her shorts were completely drenched in water, nothing could’ve made Max happier than to spend a few hours of her conscious life taking pictures of Rachel.  **Might be good to take my mind off of things.**


	29. At this point we all have feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We in the wrestling ring now, bitch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Image courtesy of the comments on the last chapter. Can't draw, so I edit sims. The sims fandom is a weird fandom I don't wanna explain.

July 30th, 2023 (evening)

Their laughs filled the hallways of the apartment complex as they walked up to their door and unlocked it with the key on Rachel’s fuzzy, pink pom pom keychain. Rachel was that bitch.

“Oh my god, and then when you said to the guy, “no, you look like an asshole!” after he cat-called me; CLASSIC! Ugh, I love you so much! You’re like even better than the old version of you. Just kidding but like- not really.” Rachel gushed, pushing the door open with her forearms seeing as her hands were holding a plethora of shopping bags.

“I am pretty great.” Max said. **Hanging out with Rachel all day has really boosted my confidence. She’s the “pretty girl” best friend I never had. I wonder if she’d do my nails before I need to talk to Chloe? Don’t get too attached now…but like...I’ve never had a gal-pal like this and it’s kind of exciting.**

As they set the shopping bags down a loud AHEM came from the couch in the living room and they both locked eyes with Chloe Price, and boy oh boy she did not look pleased.

“So...where have you guys been for the past two hours? I came home and literally no one was here.” Chloe said calmly, giving them a suspicious nod, “What's that all about?”

Rachel whipped her head around and squinted at the clock. She made a face of terrible regret, “Agh, no! The bus got us home late!” 

“You guys went somewhere without me again? I thought I was supposed to be included more often now?!” 

Max grinded her teeth together, fearing for some kind of fight between the three of them again. Neither one of them responded to Chloe.

“Well that was a fucking lie!”

“Come on...it was just a little trip to Seattle. You’ve been there like, so many times! Plus you had work today and we didn’t wanna make you miss work.” Rachel explained casually. 

“OH fuck work! You guys know I would’ve just flaked on them if you asked me to go. You guys didn’t even tell me about this trip!” Chloe raised her voice.

“It’s not that big a deal, dude…” Rachel said, beginning to unload her bags. She held a white leather jacket up to her body and showed it off to Max, “Do you think this will go with that nice baby blue butterfly tank top I have?” 

The sound of Chloe groaning and smacking her hand on her forehead caught Max’s attention and she could no longer think. Max made some weird grumbling sounds and rapidly looked between the two of them. She was, to say the least: anxious right now. 

Rachel poked Max in the shoulder light heartedly as she waited for an answer, “Babe, come on. Don’t worry about her, she’s fine.”

“I’M FINE?!” Chloe roared, crossing her arms and marching over to the two of them, “YOU GUYS ABANDON ME ALL DAY AND THEN HAVE THE AUDACITY TO SAY THAT I’M FINE!?” 

**Ooohhhh no...I feel like I’m back in middle school getting yelled at by my parents for accidentally catching them boinking in the background of one of my polaroid photos. It’s not my fault they got horny right as I was coming home from school and I happened to see a pretty bluejay at the birdfeeder near their bedroom window.** Max gulped. **Man if I knew this trip was gonna end in me thinking about my parent’s boinking I wouldn’t have come here.**

“You are so FUCKING selfish, Rachel. Everything has always been about you since the day we met and I’m sick of it!” Chloe yelled, “Life isn’t just one big movie anymore; you actually have to face consequences for being a piece of shit!”

“Well you’re not a saint either, Chloe. You’re a piece of shit too sometimes!” Rachel retaliated. 

Max had cramps now. She had full on anxiety cramps.

“Excuse me!? I’m a piece of shit? I think I’m allowed to be a piece of shit if I want to because last time I checked I’m the only one here with a real job and I’m the one who makes all the money for us while you just sit on your ass and beg for attention.” 

Rachel’s jaw dropped and she dramatically threw her new clothes down on the floor in outrage, “UGH- I’m sorry that my dreams aren’t working out as fast as you convinced me they would. Unlike you, I’m not okay with working at Z-Mart for the rest of my life. I can do better than being a dirty ol’ warehouse worker til I die.” 

The intrusive thought of Britany Spears song Toxic entered Max’s head and she couldn’t tell if she should cry or laugh. 

“Fuck you. You’d be starving on the street, probably doing prositution just to get by or something if it wasn’t for me paying all the bills.”

“Wow.” Rachel said, shaking her head in shock, “That is so low.”

It was definitely cry. Max wanted to cry. 

“It’s true.” 

“Get out of here, Chloe. Just leave us alone for a bit.” Rachel said.

Chloe threw her hands up in frustration, “Oh and now I’m the one who has to leave you two alone again for the millionth time this week? IN MY OWN HOME. Makes perfect fucking sense since it’s always you two leaving me in the the dirt.” She said, storming off towards the balcony. 

“You’re such a crybaby, Chloe…” Rachel huffed and put her hands on her hips as she watched Chloe leave while holding up to strong-ass middle fingers. 

**I don’t think I have ever witnessed an interaction so hostile in my life before- and I’ve been kidnapped by my murderous photography professor...**

“What the hell was that about? Why would you provoke her like that?!” Max asked in shock.

Rachel slumped down in one of the kitchen chairs and groaned at a frequency so loud it hurt Max’s ears, “It just happened!! She gets so pissy every time you and I do something and it’s not fair to us! I’m not even really dating her anymore so like, why does she stick around?”

Max sat down next to her, “I literally have no clue how to answer these questions? I have no clue what is going on right now.”

“I know...I know. This must suck so bad for you, I can’t even.” 

“I just wanna get back home, Rach. How am I supposed to do that now that Chloe’s upset? She probably doesn’t even wanna talk to me now.”

“Oh girl, no no no,” Rachel said urgently, “You are probably the only person she’d ever talk to.” 

Surprised, Max asked, "Really?” 

“Yeah duh. You’re like her favorite person in the whole wide world and I swear, it goes like this every single time: Chloe gets mad at ‘us’, I get mad at her, she gets mad at me, you go talk to her and she says she’s sorry for getting mad at you, and then everything is fine again.” Rachel explained. 

**Huh...that doesn’t surprise me. At least one thing was right about alternate reality Max here.**

“So uh, do I just go out there and talk to her?” 

Slowly, Rachel nodded, “You should. Just go out there, maybe explain that you gotta get back to your own reality- and OMG that sounds literally so crazy,” Rachel swiped her forehead dramatically, “but that’s besides the point. Just go out there and ask her for the picture.” She paused yet again, “And then you’re off. Gone for good.” 

Something about Rachel’s voice sounded kinda sad. Not sad-sad, it was like the kind of sad you see on people spam post accounts on Instagram. The kind of sad where you walk past yourself in the mirror, do a peace sign, and then be on your way. At least, it was that way in Rachel’s case. 

Max watched as Rachel did two peace signs, winked at her, and then slumped back down on the table. **Darn...I can’t believe I’ve spent the last two days with** **_THE RACHEL AMBER_ ** **. She is actually nothing like how I thought she would be, but I guess that makes sense. We’re not teenagers anymore...despite this feeling like a high school drama.** She stood up from her chair and walked over to finally give Rachel a good hug. 

“I’m glad I got to meet you here, even if we spent most of it commuting by bus. I’m gonna miss you, and I’m gonna tell alternate reality Chloe about this, don’t worry. Your legacy will live on in every single universe there is.” 

Hot and sweaty, tears down her face, Rachel looked up, “I’d say I’ll miss you too but you’re not actually leaving, everything will just go back to the way it was before you came here. I’ll probably tell alternate reality Max about you too.”

“That’s sweet. I wish I could stay here forever but-” 

“I mean you kinda can. We could just pretend-”

Calmly, Max took her arms back and ended the hug, “I gotta get home. Being with you and Chloe is more toxic than anthrax. I don’t know how everyone here lives like this?” 

“I get it. Most people don’t like constant hostility, except for me, but I’m wired to thrive on dysfunction.” Rachel said, “Now go: be free my flower. The quicker you tell Chloe what’s going on, the quicker I get to have my good ol’ Maxxie back.” 

**Oh yeah, I am done with this reality. I hope Rachel lives a good enough life here...if that's even possible for her? Being ‘built to thrive on dysfunction’ seems pretty tragic, but I guess that's how I picture every actor currently in the spotlight.**

  
  


Max opened the sliding door quietly in order to not startle Chloe, who was leaning against the railing having a cigarette. Careful not to poop her pants, Max approached slowly and leaned up against the railing as well. 

This version of Chloe was someone Max hadn’t seen in years. Longer, dark blue hair, still as punk as can be, it even looked like she was wearing the same beanie she had from before the tornado. **It’s pretty funny how much we’ve rubbed off on each other in my reality. Sometimes she likes to wear pink now, annnd I’ve been known to listen to a bit of rock music here and there. Makes me kinda sad to see that despite calling her back in this reality we seem to be complete opposites.**

“Hey…”Max said quietly. 

Chloe choked on her spit for a second before grumbling, “Hey.” 

“I thought you hated smoking while crying because it made your phlegm taste like old man ass?” 

She gave a weak laugh and shrugged, clearly unable to speak at the moment. 

Something about seeing alternate reality, hard-ass Chloe crying made her seem a lot less intimidating. “Sorry Rachel and I left without you today, it must’ve felt pretty bad to not be included.” 

Chloe swatted her hand in the air as she worked up the nerve to speak without breaking down, “It’s cool. You don’t need to apologize cuz...I’m not actually mad at you.”

“Maybe you’re not actually mad at me personally, but I was still at fault here. The trip was all my idea, I felt the need to go off on a wild-goose chase that led to nothing but a wet butt. I wouldn’t want you to get a wet butt.” Max said. 

“I guess that’s considerate of you?” Chloe said in amusement, “You don’t need to feel bad though, I understand that you and Rachel are happy together and wanna do like...girlfriend things together. I support you guys fully, you know that right?” 

“Yeah. Yeah I know that.” Max said, hoping that was something that normal Max would’ve said, “But...uhm, why do you always seem so mad at her?” 

Chloe leaned backwards as she held onto the railing, this question seemed to affect her a bit more than anything else Max had said, “She’s just changed a lot since we were teens, ya know...or I guess it’s more like she hasn’t changed at all. That's more like it. She has the type of personality that doesn’t age well and everyone else needs to pay for it.” 

Max nodded silently. 

“Sorry, sorry. I know I just insulted your girlfriend. I didn’t mean it like that.” Chloe said quickly, putting out her cigarette and flicking it over the ledge. “I also didn’t mean it when I said I was the only one with a real job. You probably make more than me with all your magazine features and shit. I was just heated with Rachel and got carried away. AGAIN.”

Max smiled shyly and admired the busy street down below their towering apartment, “I get it. Rachel seems like the kind of person who likes to get on people’s nerves.”

“This might be a bit too honest, but fuck it- I don’t know how you do it. When I was with Rachel we were constantly bickering over our differences. I think my breaking point was when she wanted to include you in our relationship and all that messed up shit that happened. It never felt like the three of us, it always just felt like the two of you, or Rachel and I, and it was...never what I wanted it to be.” Chloe explained, holding her head up on the railing with her arm as she looked at Max. 

“Well, what did you want it to be?” Max asked, biting her lip nervously.

Chloe looked very clearly uncomfortable trying to come up with an answer for that. She shrugged and readjusted herself so she didn’t have to look at Max head on. 

Shaking off that one, Max asked, “Why do you stick around here if it makes you so unhappy? You don’t need to answer-” 

“You.” She answered, sniffling a few times, “Mainly you.” 

Max’s stomach quivered with butterflies, specifically blue morpho butterflies. 

“I gotta protect my best friend and all that, right?” Chloe said, giving Max a light punch in the shoulder. Her hand slowly trailed away and hit the railing a few times as her eyes drifted away. 

**Oh-ahhaha! Best friends! Right! Totally. We are one hundred and ten percent the bestest of best friends in the world. Nice.**

“I feel like after you spent all those years keeping in touch and calling me every time I needed help it’s sort of my duty now to do the same for you. I don’t know...I don’t want us to be apart ever again, and if it means putting up with Rachel being a little bitchy sometimes then so be it. Whatever.” She said, swallowing hard, “I love you, man.” 

**Fuck...even calling her back messed things up between us. I wonder what things would’ve been like if she never met Rachel in this reality? Maybe we would’ve been together sooner?**

“I love you too, Chloe.” Max said, grabbing Chloe’s hand, “I’m glad we’re best friends in this life.” 

Chloe looked down at their hands before breaking free and taking a few steps back, “Fuck, man…” She said, beginning to get all worked up again. She covered her eyes and sighed, “don’t make me say it out loud!” 

“What?” Max asked, “Say what out loud?” 

“I love you, Max. That’s why I stay in this shit hole.” She cried, “I don’t wanna leave you because I love you so much!” 

Max was speechless. Alternate reality Max had friend zoned Chloe so hard!! Max couldn't even begin to fathom how Chloe had been putting up with feelings like this for so long!?! 

“Shit,” Chloe mumbled, “It feels so stupid to say that. I’m sorry.” 

Wide eyed, Max said, “NO! No it’s not weird at all.” 

“Yes it is. I’m a grown up with a crush on their best friend. And I guess while we’re here...this isn’t a new thing either. I’ve liked you for fuck knows how long? And you know what,” She paused and took a second to compose herself as she was getting progressively more emotional, “it doesn’t get any easier seeing you and Rachel together everyday. The three of us didn’t work out because of me and my own feelings. After a while I just wanted you, Max. And I don’t know how to deal with that?” 

Mouth dry as a bone, “Chloe, I had no idea…”

“Of course not! I’ve never told anyone, and I never wanted to. I-” She paused again to weep, “I never wanted to because I know I can’t be with you! But now that I have...fuck I don’t know what to do? I can’t live here anymore.”

“Chloe, no...come on.” 

“It’s not your fault. I just...I shouldn’t have even started talking about all this. I know you’re with Rachel, and It’s fine. Well, it’s not fine but it’s gonna need to be fine.” Chloe held her hand up to her nose to stop it from dripping, “Fuck, man...I’m so sorry for dumping this all on you like this.” 

**Looks like I’m about to fuck up the alternate reality too…** ”I love you too, Chloe.” Max said, and without thinking she lunged towards Chloe and threw her hands around the back of her neck, swiftly pressing their lips together. 

At first Chloe pulled away unsurely, but given the situation...she was unable to stop herself from kissing Max back again and again and again until both of them were fresh out of oxygen and unfortunately needed to put an end to it. 

**Hubba-hubba!! Is it considered cheating on Chloe if I’m actually just kissing her in an alternate reality? Shit wait- it’s considered cheating on Rachel. Shoot. Golly-**

“That was...insane, Max. W-what just happened? Did we seriously just-” 

Max nodded furiously, “Yep, this just happened. And Chloe,” Max put her hands on her cheeks and held her there firmly, “I swear to God, no matter what universe we’re in I will always love you.”

Chloe was stunned, she had no words. Her expression was completely glazed; she was in gay heaven. 

“I’d kiss you again, but I actually need something else from you.” 

“Anything.” She choked, “Anything at all I promise.” 

**Simp. Just kidding. I’m the head honcho of simps. And I, the head honcho of simps, really need to get out of here right now before I need to deal with breaking up with Rachel to run away with Chloe.**

“Do you have that yearbook picture of me in eighth grade? Rachel said you keep it in your wallet.” 

Despite it being rather dark outside, Max could still tell that Chloe was blushing madly, “Oh uh, yeah, “She said, reaching into her back pocket and pulling around her wallet, “it’s not in very good condition though. Remember when we went to Arizona to see Rachel’s mom? Her dog got a hold of it and I was hardly able to snatch it back in one piece. It’s all taped up so I hope you don’t need to do anything important with it.” Chloe explained, handing Max the dirty, crumpled, picture of her in eighth grade. 

**I can’t believe the one similarity my two Chloe have is the fact that they both hold onto this embarrassing picture of me.**

“It sounds super shitty, but I almost stomped that dog for eating that picture. Like didn’t they know that was my lucky charm?” Chloe laughed awkwardly, rubbing her neck. 

**The dog...the dog ate the photo...I know another dog who ate some photos. I have another idea!!! Oh my god!! Toro- we gotta get back to Toro!**

Max kissed Chloe one last time, smiling ear to ear, “Chloe you’re a genius!!! I love you so much! Thank you- thank you- thank you!” 

Unaware of the situation, Chloe just smiled and laughed, “Uhm, alright. You’re welcome for something??” 

“I’m gonna miss you so much…”

“What?”

And just like that, everything faded back to white and the busy street down below disappeared in a flash. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates are coming slow now because 1. My motivation said "Get the fire exit door, I'm out." and 2. I am taking history and philosophy in school now instead of just a computer technology class that taught me how to make slightly more advanced memes.


	30. The worst plan in the history of the universe

Similar to the first time, Max found herself sitting on the same stool with a camera in front of her. The flash didn’t shock her as much this time, but she sure did feel sick to her stomach. 

“I know the flash can be a little bright, but we just need to take one more. Can you turn your head to the right a little bit, sweetie?” Said a young photographer behind the camera. 

Max followed those familiar words again and put up no fuss. She had to make things as normal as possible. 

The camera flashed again and her stomach lurched. 

“Sweetie, I know. We’re all done now, do you wanna see your photos?” The woman asked, readjusting the tripod. 

That was the absolute last thing she wanted to do.

“Ma’am, I gotta go.” Max said urgently, standing up and covering her mouth as she ran to the nearest trash can to throw up the ham and cheese sandwich little Max had for lunch that day. 

Somehow,  _ somehow  _ no one in the entire gymnasium noticed her puke right in the middle of all the action. The lady who took her photo didn’t even notice. That was the American public school system.  **I guess my eleventh grade psychology teacher was right when they said it would be better to die in a group of two people rather than a crowd of fifty.**

She walked over to the same bench she sat on when she first went looking for Sean and rubbed her stomach.  **I don’t think my body can handle all this time travel anymore. First it was nosebleeds, then in 2020 I broke out in hives- but...that could’ve been unrelated to the time travel, and now I’m getting tummy aches. Why do I even use my power anymore, man?**

She was caught off guard when the same two kids from before went zooming past her.

“Yooou can’t catch me, Sean!” The girl yelled. 

“Oh really? Watch how fast I can get you!” A small, miniature version of Sean called back. Oh how wonderful it would be to see that man in heelys once again.

Max looked into an invisible camera and sighed.  **It’s in the poop.**

Alternate reality Chloe had given Max a plan and that plan was quite possibly the worst plan anyone in the history of the universe had ever come up with. She needed the poop. The dog poop.  **When I get back to the regular timeline we need to find Damián and pray that Toro has passed the pictures. Those pictures that I took the night I bashed a stranger's skull with a bat are our only chance to warn Sean about the auction. I can’t believe that stupid dog ate all my photos! This is exactly why I’m a cat person.**

For plot convenience Max only bought polaroid film that was nearly indestructible. After seeing all her things get burned in the dark room back in 2013 she thought it was a worthwhile investment. Her film could 100% survive a dog’s stomach acid.  **Good luck burning my stuff now- Jeffershit. Some people have weed dealers...annnd some people have titanium camera film dealers. Chloe’s gonna take back what she said about me spending three hundred unnecessary dollars when I save Sean’s life with it.**

All she had to do now was wait out the clock and stay put. The time seemed to pass by slower when she didn’t have a seven year old to stalk, it gave her a lot more time to think about the reality of the situation and how uncomfortable it felt to be back in her childhood body. This was her first year without Chloe, and on top of that she had a whole new setting to get used to in a brand new city filled with thousands of people with big personalities. Would it have killed her to take her hair out of that greasy ponytail?  **Yes.** But that was just Max’s childhood brain speaking for her. 

By default, 2013 obviously won the award for worst year ever, but coming in a close second was 2008.  **We all die, you either kill yourself or get killed.**

The school bell rang and Max’s heart rate increased as the same childhood end-of-school-day adrenaline coursed through her blood. She followed the hoard of people out of the gym and took in a breath of fresh air, glad to be out of the room with body odor that was so intense it felt solid against her skin. On the plus side, it seemed like good practice for what she was going to need to do in a little while. 

She wasn’t aware of how odd it looked to be standing completely still in a hallway filled with traffic until her old friend Kristen came up behind her and spooked her out of her socks. 

“Heyyy, Max! Wanna walk home with me today? My mom just got me a brand new Ipod shuffle and I totally want your advice on what songs to download. You free?” Kristen asked. 

It had been so long since Max had even thought about this girl, the last time they spoke was the day Max left for Arcadia Bay. Kristen looked a lot different at thirteen compared to how she looked that night at seventeen; completely wasted.  **I can’t believe this girl was my first gay crush. It feels illegal to think this...** Kristen was no Chloe Price, but she was still kinda cute, dark hair, dorky glasses, you know, baby Max’s type. 

Without thinking, Max began to say, “I can’t actually, I need to call Chl-” but then she stopped. That wasn’t how it went in this timeline, “Well...a few hours couldn’t hurt right? I can do whatever I need to do after we hang.” Max said, nodding her head trying to look as cool as possible. 

“Awesome! My parents don’t come home until seven tonight, so we have the whole night to gossip!” Kristen said, taking her hand as they began walking through the halls.

**It’s all for the best...hopefully everything is still the same when I get back to Puerto Lobos.**

Together they walked into the white background behind two metal, school doors and everything was gone just as fast as it happened. 

  
  


**

Three days before the time-fuckery

The camera panned across the night sky and fell onto Toro the dog sitting at the front door of the shop minding his business. A hand from behind the camera held a microphone up to his snout. 

“Sir, How do you feel about going back home for good now?” The sound guy asked the dog. 

Toro gave the mic a hearty sniff before putting the whole thing in his mouth. The sound guy quietly grumbled as he took the mic back. 

_ “Excuse me? Don’t talk to me or my son ever again, okay?”  _ Damián said, yanking his boy back on his leash and blocking the entire frame with his face. 

**

Chloe sat inside a somewhat destroyed garage with Daniel in her arms as the poor boy bawled his eyes out because, you guessed it- we’re back with his dead brother. 

“It’s gonna be okay, bud. Max will find a way to fix all this, I promise. She’ll get him back.” Chloe said softly. 

Everything Daniel was saying was completely indiscernible, no amount of subtitles could’ve helped this situation, and the sound of harsh rain against a tin roof only further blended everything together 

From out of frame a sudden gasp startled everyone and they all whipped around to find Max standing in the sand completely drenched. She looked at her surroundings in shock, probably overwhelmed by all the water running off her hair and into her open mouth. She ran right over to Chloe and Daniel sitting in the garage and wrapped her arms around them widely. 

“Max! What happened!?” Chloe asked as she rapidly examined Max’s face.

Max choked on her words, “I can’t explain now- how long has it been raining here?” She asked with urgency. 

“I-it’s never stopped. It’s been raining here for about three days.”

Her eyebrows furrowed when she let go of both of them and popped up on her feet again, “Shit...that's not good.”

“Why? What's that supposed to mean?”

And then, refusing to take his head off Chloe’s shoulder, Daniel spoke up, “Where’s Sean?” 

Max couldn’t answer that for a moment.

“Where is he, Max?!” He said, his tone growing more and more impatient. 

The rain whipped around in the wind loudly as they all stayed silent. 

“It didn’t work...did it?” Chloe said. 

Before Max could defend herself Chloe’s wet shirt muffled the unsettling sounds of Daniel screaming. 

Guiltily Max shook her head, “I tried everything I thought would work, but nothing did. I’m so sorry, Daniel. I swear I tried to make your life better…”

“So what do we do now?” Chloe asked, trying desperately to shush him.

“I have one more idea, but I don’t know how well it will work.” Max explained. 

Chloe gently lifted Daniel’s head off her shoulder and cupped his face, “Look, we have another plan, okay? Everything's gonna be alright.”

He nodded and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands; a look of pure agony on his face. They both unfurled from each other and turned to look up at Max in anticipation. 

Max took a deep breath before revealing her master plan, “So, I’m assuming you guys all remember the other night when Damián’s dog ate all my pictures I took here...well, after figuring some things out in the alternate reality I think I know how to get them back...but we’re not gonna like it.” 

“How are we getting them back?” Chloe asked with concern.

“We need to go back to Damián’s house and root through his dog’s poop until we find enough of a picture for me to use.” Max stated. The camera zoomed in on her hardened expression. 

The garage went silent again, but this time no one was crying.

Chloe sucked in her neck, “Excuse me? We’re gonna do what??” 

“I don’t wanna see Damián again. When I see him it’s on sight.”

As crazy as the plan sounded, somehow Max was able to convince everyone to be on board with her plan as she explained it a few more times in greater detail. At this point, Daniel was willing to let the girls do anything to get Sean back. He was willing to let them root through dog poop if they wanted to. 

Max offered to drive so that Chloe could sit with Daniel in the back. Over the years, dramatically driving through extreme storms in the dark was kind of her thing

**

Hands placed firmly on both sides of the steering wheel, Max turned to the camera, “Uhm-uh for uh...your sake, maybe don’t tape anything that Chloe and I are doing. I feel like this might be a little bit graphic for your class project. Normally I can find artistry in almost everything but I don’t think you can work your way around this.” 

She nodded and then waited for a response; forgetting that these guys weren’t supposed to respond. She mistook the silence as an opportunity to over-share.

“This whole thing is honestly a bit too graphic for your class project, I’m so sorry. You guys are gonna need to censor literally everything we’ve said.” She giggled, “Every other word is gonna be like ****, ****, *****, ***!” She beeped. 

The camera panned around to a furious Daniel in the back, “We just had to drag Sean’s body into the bushes so he wouldn’t get eaten by vultures while we’re gone and you have the audacity to laugh right now?” 

Pressing her lips together Max sank lower into the seat and kept driving. 

**

The three of them looked very awkward standing outside Damián’s humble front door soaking wet; none of them wanting to be the one to knock on the estranged lover’s door. Especially not Daniel.

For the second time on this trip, Chloe had to be the one to put on the big girl boots and knock. As she knocked the sound of a dog barking started immediately and footsteps came to the door oddly fast. 

The door swung open just as fast as Damián unfortunately began talking,  _ “I was hoping you’d come ba-”  _ He stopped, frowning as he noticed his mistake. 

Daniel glared at him and stuck up his nose,  _ “You disgust me.”  _ He said, marching in through the door, disregarding the very shocked and embarrassed man in front of him and heading straight for the dog on the couch.

Puzzled, he allowed the girls in and checked around outside for anyone else standing around waiting to come in before shutting the door. 

The soggy gang, formerly known as the spy gang stood dripping wet on his tiled kitchen floor.

_ “This is weird.”  _ Damián started, shoving his hands into his back pockets,  _ “Are you guys here for something specific.”  _

_ “Well I kinda want to know what sick force drove you to dumping my brother without any sort of explanation. You caused him to stay in bed for three whole days! And when he finally got up- guess what, dickhead!? Because of you he got fucking shot and now he’s dead again! All because of you.”  _ Daniel pointed aggressively, _ “First time he got shot: you. Second time: you. THIRD TIME: YOU.”  _

Damián looked terrified.  _ “He’s dead?! But...but I thought she could just get him back?”  _ He asked, gesturing at Max and Chloe. 

_ “Why do you think we’re here, dumbass?! Your stupid dog ate all of Max’s photos and those photos are the only way we can get him back.”  _ Daniel said, petting said stupid dog. 

He stuttered as he tried to come up with an answer,  _ “HOw??”  _

Daniel looked to the girls, “Tell him how we’re getting the photo’s back. Tell him how.” His tone filled with disappointment. 

“Uhhh…” Max mumbled. 

“Poooop.” Chloe dragged out. 

Damián looked a little lost. 

Chloe carefully acted out every word she was saying, “We. Need. Your dog’s. Poop.” 

Max pretended to be the poop falling out of Chloe’s butt. It was awful. 

“Poop?” Damián asked. “Toilet for dog?” 

Chloe tapped her finger on her nose excitedly. Damián looked impressed with himself. 

_ “I really hope you haven’t been throwing dog shit around like a monkey the way I’ve been, otherwise you’re just adding to the long list of reasons why I hate your guts.”  _

_ “I...just tell them I keep a garbage can in the backyard. I’m not going to ask anymore questions because the less I know the better.”  _

The hit song,  The Less I know the Better by Tame Impala played briefly in the background for no more than five seconds in order to avoid copyright. 

“The can is out back guys, careful walking through the living room; this place reeks of a sad man whore.” Daniel muttered, dramatically throwing his legs up on the couch like some kind of villain. 

Shocked and appalled by what he just said, the girls shouted at him to stop. 

“I said what I said.” 

Lucky for them, the garbage can was sitting under a covered area of Damián’s patio. Max and Chloe looked absolutely terrified by what was going to come their way; mumbling about how bad of an idea this was. When Chloe asked about the origin of this idea Max refused to give her an answer. 

Stood over the bin, awaiting the death of their poor nostrils, they looked at each other with looming hope in their eyes for one last time. 

“Chloe, if we die here...just know that I thoroughly enjoyed our time together and I always wanted to die by your side.” 

“Think of this like we’re pirates again: searching for the booty.” 

“How fitting seeing as this is actually booty.” Max said, “I’m sorry we never got to play pirates over the phone like I said we could when I moved.”

Chloe rested her hand on Max’s shoulder, “That was a long time ago. It’s okay now, I understand why things were hard back then. Plus, we’re here now being pirates in real life! Not exactly the way I thought we'd be playing pirates on our trip but...I’ll take whatever time I can get with you.” 

“Awe, Chloe, that's so sweet. But...I’ve gotta tell you about some things that happened in the alternate reality, you know...in case we do die from the fumes.” 

“Hit me.” 

“I met Rachel.” Max said, “I was dating Rachel.”

Chloe stood there gawking. 

“I cheated on Rachel with alternate reality you. I-”

“So like...did you do anything productive while you were traveling through space and time?” 

Ashamed, Max looked away, “I don’t know...I just wanted to tell you that I met Rachel, and that even in completely fucked up realities you and I are still meant to be.”

Her hand fiddled in her pant pocket and she bit her lip. Drawstrings from a bag poked out for no more than a second before Chloe shoved then back inside and shook her head, “I love you, Max, but maybe we shouldn’t be talking about this kind of stuff as we stand over a bin filled with dog feces. Maybe you could update me on this stuff afterwards.”

“You think we’re gonna make it?”

Chloe pulled up her elbow long rubber gloves, “Hell yeah.”

Boldly, Max threw open the lid and the two girls violently gagged. 

  
  


The only sound to be heard inside the house was an isolated clock. For so long it had been driving Daniel up the wall so badly he had to cover his ears. 

Damián stood as far away in the kitchen as possible and gazed out the rain covered window. His dog didn’t even love him anymore. He could hardly hold himself up on the counter. 

Every time Damián would huff and puff at the counter, questioning his existence, Daniel had to focus really hard on not shattering everything inside the house out of spite.

His final sigh was Daniel’s last straw and he sent an empty can of soda hurtling at the back on Damián’s head,  _ “Shut up! What the hell do you have to be upset about?! You ghosted us- you didn’t even care enough to tell Sean you were leaving! The last thing he probably thought of before dying was how upset he was about you. UGH.”  _

The soda can bounced around on the floor and Damián held his hand over the spot it just hit. He raked his fingers through his hair in distress and paced back and forth from the fridge to the stove, whining under his breath. 

_ “Aren’t you gonna say anything? Or are you trying to ghost me now too? I think it's a new level of low for someone to ghost a kid who’s sitting ten feet in front of them- especially right after their brother just die-”  _ Daniel’s voice caught for a second before he tried to force it out again,  _ “diiieeedd…”  _ He wheezed, bursting into tears. 

Springing to action, Damián went over to the couch and sat down reaching out to comfort him in some way. 

_ “DO NOT. I swear to god, touch me and I will kill you- no cap.” _

Damián backed off, rightfully so, and he waited for Daniel to calm down a bit. 

_ “What if we can’t get him back? I don’t know what I’m gonna do without him? I’ve never been all alone before.”  _

_ “You’ll get him back, I’m sure-”  _ Damián started as he got interrupted. 

_ “What’s gonna happen to me when Max and Chloe go back home? I can’t legally go back to the US- I need Sean! If Max and Chloe try to smuggle me back into the States we will all go to prison right away- RIGHT AWAY. I don’t even wanna go back there! But I don’t wanna be here all alone either!”  _ He sobbed hysterically. He had trouble keeping up in Spanish while in this much pain,  _ “I just wanna go back home with dad and be safe and happy, but Max tried that and she said it wasn’t a good situation either! I don’t know what to do, Damián? I’m gonna be all alone without Sean, oh god!” _

_ “You’re okay, alright?”  _ He said, finally getting close enough to give a gentle shoulder rub,  _ “No matter what happens today you will not be alone because you will always have me.”  _

Looking up at the ceiling, Daniel screamed silently.

_ “Danny, come on. We were acting like best friends the other day,” _

_ “We were slightly more than acquaintances at MOST. And that was before you hurt Sean, just like I knew you would! I can’t believe I let you fool me with this cool dog, and this cool house...and your cool jokes, and that one time you gave me your sunglasses in the car when I broke mine, and when you told me you’d let me get a tattoo even though you have no right to do that.”  _ He said trailing off, _ “I can’t believe I let you fool me!?” _

_ “Listen, the way I did things was wrong. I should’ve talked to him about this instead of just leaving. But I heard him talking to Max the other night...something about how he didn’t think it was worth trying to be together anymore and it made me feel awful! We’d already talked about whether or not we were both willing to try, and hearing him say what he said made me feel like he was lying, and I didn’t want to bother him anymore.” _

Daniel looked at him blankly,  _ “You left after hearing him say one sentence? You don’t even understand English, dude!”  _

_ “I told you there were mistakes in my method! But I was able to piece together what they were talking about because of word-friends and his tone. He wanted me to leave.” _

_ “The amount of early 2000s break up songs I had to listen to for the past three days says otherwise,”  _ He said, wiping his eyes. 

Damián sighed,  _ “I hope you don’t think I was happy when I got home that morning, because I really wasn’t. My friends told me that I should try going out one night and hooking up with someone random because they all do it! SO I did! I said, “Damián you’re going to go out there and you’re going to have a classic one-night-stand.” But I have recently found out I cannot do that. I care too much about the other person. So I purposely broke my bike and brought it to the shop so I could keep coming back.” _

_ “You broke your motorcycle just to see Sean again?”  _ Daniel asked judgmentally, trying to muffle a sniffle at the end.

_ “Yes. I spent ten thousand pesos on a one-night-stand and I would break my bike again and again just to sit there and watch him fix it.” _

Suddenly, Daniel’s chest popped up and down as he struggled to breathe,  _ “Really?” _

_ “One hundred percent. We were a little bit complicated, Daniel. I shouldn’t have left like that; it was stupid. And now that he’s dead you don’t even want to know what kind of emotions I’m holding back right now.” _

_ “Do you...do you really think Max is gonna find a way to get him back?”  _

Damián shrugged as his own eyes welled up,  _ “Mhmm. You don’t need to worry bud. I don’t know how any of this ‘superhero’ magical power stuff works, but I have faith.”  _

_ “And if it doesn’t work...y-you’ll look out for me and stuff?” _

_ “Of course. It’s my duty now to look after you. We’ll protect each other and you won’t need to worry about being alone. It’s the least I can do. _

Daniel nodded as he skeptically looked Damián up and down,  _ “Okay. I'm choosing to believe you. This actually makes me feel a bit better in case our plan doesn’t work out.” _

Damián held his arms open looking as though he thought hugging Daniel would be impossible; but it wasn't. Nearly breaking his ribs from sheer impact, Daniel dove in head first to give his temporary fake big brother a hug. After letting out a sudden grunt, Damián smiled and pet both the boy and the dog.

This was not the camera's focus for very long though, through the big glass doors across from the couch, Max and Chloe ran up to the windows with beaming smiles holding the ugly, brown remains of two photos that survived the bowel movement. 

The wicked storm actually came in pretty handy and acted as a hose to clean off the photos. Max and Chloe took their gloves off outside and let them clean off in the rain as well while they washed their hands inside the house with vinegar. Literally any smell in the world was better than what they just went through. 

**

"I-" max stuttered, sitting on the toilet in Damián's bathroom while she watched Chloe scrub her own hands vigorously, "I can't believe we just did that...why??"

"We looked through so much SHIT." Chloe said, tears stained on her face, "so...much...shit."

"I am so sorry Chloe."

"We did this for Daniel. This was for a good cause. We're helping someone!" Chloe reminded herself.

"If we're willing to go through literal dog shit for a kid we don't even own, imagine what we could do for a kid we DO own."

Chloe let out an ungodly groan, "Kids make even more shit! We'd root through double shit! Every single day!!"

**

Not long after the girls got themselves cleaned up, the photos had almost enough time to be taken inside and dried off between two towels. Max came running back into the kitchen with Chloe trailing behind with her fingers crossed.

"For what this was worth, it better work!" Max said, stomping loudly up to the kitchen counter. 

From the couch a harsh shush came from behind the cushions and Damián's head popped over the back. With his one free hand he pointed to the little tuft of fluffy black and flamingo pink hair that was sitting peacefully in his arms, "He is sleep." He said, "Asleeping."

Cautiously, Max and Chloe apologized for their loudness, and they proceeded to remove the blankets from around the photos. They both looked somewhat disappointed by the results. Sure the film was strong enough to survive the body of a dog, but the actual image looked rough and blotchy. 

"Do you think one of these will work?" Chloe asked, remaining conscious of Daniel snoozing close by. 

"I'm gonna make them work." Max stated, picking the two pictures up in her hands to see which one didn't look like an oil painting gone wrong...terribly, terribly wrong.

The first one was of Chloe from three nights ago; the night Damián got shot and Sean slept in the garage. And the second one was of Sean and Chloe standing together as they worked on the truck. Obviously the one closer to date she needed to get back to would work better, but unfortunately it was in the worst condition possible. 

She tossed the one with Sean and Chloe to the side and held up the messier one so that Chloe could see her decision too, "I'm gonna try this one. Wish me luck."

Chloe gave her a quick peck on the cheek, "You got this, Mad Max. I believe in you."

On camera it didn't look like much was going on as Max tried desperately to focus on the photo, it just looked slightly uncomfortable. She looked at the photo for minutes upon minutes before she noticed even the slightest bit of sound. It would come and go the more she thought about it but eventually Max's world became nothing more than the sound of laminated paper wiggling in the wind. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am ashamed of what my brain came up with.


	31. The wibble wobble reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not take the time to re-read this. If you catch any spelling mistakes they are totally on purpose; I added them in as a bit of extra *spice* to see if you're paying attention.

Three days earlier

Max opened her eyes and blinked them a few times to clear her vision. 

But her vision never cleared. 

Everything looked like it was miles underwater and all she could see was moving colours and subtle features of Chloe’s face below her.  **This doesn’t seem right...keep blinking Max.**

“t tnatneaedh gdx io Mgah ceiia!” Chloe said, giggling demonically as she rubbed Max’s shins. 

“elh?oC” Max asked, shocked by how messed up her own words sounded.  **What the hell?? I thought I said Chloe?!**

“Aya eord?u sxea rmuyu?cnf tgi eM lshooe” 

Max stared down at the blotch of colours sitting in front of her and started to cry.  **I have messed up bad this time…**

“r te lwkto?goyeuoteah tyahr go dae sactiil hnuy y aojin isorr n yliM? oyxauo mau rrwhem e?a dosetaf ueadalnis,” Chloe asked, and Max felt firm hands on her shoulders, “te.oaTm kl”

The thought never crossed her mind that perhaps traveling through time using a photo that was virtually indistinguishable from a damp, brown blob was a bad idea. 

**How do I tell what she's saying to me? What if she can’t understand me?!**

“inrptIe gtygucCallontaicmaw, eiretad fdh i wnh u ad why.ose'rnot ssuoy mh n”  **Chloe, tap my shoulder twice if you can understand what I'm saying right now.**

And thankfully Max felt two quick taps. She relaxed her shoulders and let out a deep breath,  **okay- this is okay! She can understand what I’m saying, that's one good thing. Everything is going to be fine.** But it most certainly was not fine.

“!a 'iouc ,at rnh mlbue aeyulelbrhgeo,gtoeogruo f fterhnaowt 'I Ctsa m!i -ayirth nd s-Ier p'lhuljInhdt,e er yo nltym u m”  **Chloe, I'm from the future- I, you-you gotta help me! I can't hear or see anything right now, it's all jumbled and blurry!** Max said in a panic.

Chloe’s long “uhhh” echoed through Max’s ears and made her head spin as it boomeranged across the room, “ aIk Opdoyl hew?oh” 

**Alright, officially the worst adventure. Screw it only being third place or whatever it was a few days ago- this is Arcadia Bay all over again. Why do all my friends keep dying!? I gotta stop trying to save them all, Jeeeeesus.** “einttcm htancd nwaocoo 'efn t u g ,'a hnaenrnttyd emsaIdade ernnu witeraoto”  **I can't understand that, we're gonna need to find another way to communicate.**

Suddenly Chloe sprung into action and went over to the other two moving blobs of colour that were in the garage and brought them over to infront of Max. There was some meaningless blob discussion that Max assumed was not for her. 

Sean snapped his fingers close enough to her eyes that she was at least able to make out his nails, “ C att roun?ehhaay” 

“d h,unefl rSb e woran eh rurlsa tm 'weeiaeclaehhrn d p e aassn darhjdoc” Chloe said, punching him in the shoulder. 

_ “Wouldn’t it be fucking weird if she could just understand Spanish all of a sudden?”  _ Damián said in a joking tone, laughing at the end. 

Gasping for air Max pointed at him and nodded vigorously.

The colourful blobs looked at each other and then back at Max, Damián stepped up in front of her,  _ “You can understand everything I’m saying right now? Can you understand these words:  _ _ Waterproof?”  _ He asked, Max nodded, _ “Railroad?” _ She nodded again, _ “Developers?”  _

_ “Yes! Yes!” _ Max chanted, however, that was about all she could chant seeing as she knew nothing more than yes, no, and hello in Spanish.  **I must be able to understand him because my brain doesn’t know how to jumble up the words since they already sounded jumbled in the regular reality. The** **_wibble wobble reality_ ** **seems to have unjumbled the jumbled words.**

_ “Why those words?” _ Sean asked, in Spanish of course, since Max was now only able to understand that. 

_ “Those are the hardest words to say and understand. I thought if she could understand those she must be telling the truth. They don’t teach those kinds of words on Dora.” _

_ “Ahhh, I see. Smart-smart-smart,”  _ They high fived casually. 

Chloe huffed, “icldne'cya xoe n ttce letD w ,tattadkn t oalahhsmnI tua'mah o rkc,thon?i k D -'sekaaw t erMa oáá' lh noaw dngonnt amsmioadt aadentonea?”

“Dr ,wry'ntoo” Sean said. 

The blobs further discussed their plan while Max sat in her plastic chair, gripping tightly onto the arms of it in anticipation. 

“ndd smtpoersn en h faei stuet uso 'ovl w pedcaWlh d?aatneeIm?!” Chloe asked in an angry tone, Max could hear the sound of her shirt rustling as she crossed her arms. 

“shiDkeJ id m a ioty wskaatrát ul hlttrbnnIae cot” Sean said, pushing Chloe to the side as him and Damián squatted down in front of her. 

_ “Max, what happened? How are you from the future?”  _ Sean asked, grabbing onto her hand to show her that he was in fact right there.

Off to her right, Chloe scoffed and it again echoed around in Max’s head long after she began talking, “c d ta lthaseduvea kohI” she grumbled,  _ “pfft, what happened? How you are from future?” _ She asked quietly, trying to mimic the same unfamiliar words she just heard Sean say.

_ “Did something bad happen? Did you come to warn us? Was it like the thing at the bar again?”  _ Damián asked, speaking much faster to her than Sean was, but that wasn’t a problem for Max anymore.

_ “Warn us...warn...us…” _ Chloe mumbled, unable to keep up with the conversation. She kicked an empty bucket across the garage and almost startled Max into a whole new reality, “UF!CK”

The sound of the bucket was like thousands of little knives being stabbed into her brain, Max clutched her ears and swayed from side to side with the movement of sound.

Blob Sean and blob Damián leapt in to help Max keep her balance and repeatedly told her that she would be okay. Odd timing to feel like a princess, but it was alright.  **If you take enough drugs in an art museum I’m sure you could hear things like this from the oil paintings too. Anyone can get that for about fifty bucks; me...I get that for free- plus a lifetime of added trauma. What more could I ask for?**

“lthoeolan i!Moehd y dcd Botge f,laC tamuaorexq se kn.” Sean said in exasperation, turning to Chloe, “Wseloey rg fnoDonugtehtodd iua mio?t'y”

She grunted, “ineF.” She stormed off out of the left side of the garage.

_ “Okay, keep going.”  _

Max took a deep breath and focused on what she needed to tell them, “So, a couple days from now, Sean, you’re going to figure out how to fix the truck, we’re gonna go to that weird, illegal auction you’ve been referencing for days, and you’re going to get shot while we pack up the truck and Daniel is going to blow the place up in outrage.” 

Although she couldn’t see blob Sean’s expression, his dead silence was enough to give her the right image in her mind. He discreetly leaned over and whispered the translation over to Damián.

_ “Where am I during this?”  _ Damián asked curiously. 

“Uhhh...Uhhhh…” Max debated whether or not she should mention that they break up or if she should keep that to herself in order to avoid any further messing with timelines, “Next question.”

_ “Next question, what's next?”  _ Sean translated. 

He let out a shallow sigh,  _ “I must’ve died too, she just doesn’t have the heart to tell me…” _

Max bit her whole lip anxiously and nodded along, “Daniel blew up the whole twenty meter radius or so around the auction and we all woke up later on in the evening. I went back in time- like BACK IN TIME-BACK IN TIME,” Max emphasized, “and I made it so that your mom never left, your dad never died, you never had to leave Seattle, you graduated high school and got to go to college, you had both eyes in all your Facebook photos, and Daniel got to have a normal childhood...well...relatively.” 

Sean made a pained sound of acknowledgement,  _ “MMM! Oh wow, really? Huh? That’s a pretty big thing to do.”  _ Max heard the sound of him running his hand through his beard,  _ “Yeah...man that would be the life, wouldn’t it. Both eyes AND a dad! Alternate reality Sean was really living it up, huh?”  _ He said, his voice a good mixture of upset and pretending to be okay with it.  _ “I can’t believe you just passed up on that opportunity for me.” _

_ “It’s okay, you really make the one eye thing work! I love how you can only see me if I stand on your right! Having one eye is such a unique thing, it makes you hot and special.”  _ Damián reassured giving him a pat-pat. 

“Sean, you got kidnapped on your trip to Arizona during spring break and you were dead!” She said bluntly, “It was a terrible reality! Everyone’s roles got reversed a-and Daniel was like Chloe, and his friend was like me, and they were searching for you- just like how Chloe and I went searching for her old friend Rachel the week Arcadia Bay was destroyed- and they were going to find you fucking DEAD. Unfortunatly you got the role of: kidnapped murder victim in our fucked up school play mimiking life, and Rachel was still alive like you are now! And I had to endure dating her for two whole days!” Max explained loud enough that her own voice was making her head pound. 

From the back door of the garage, Chloe poked her head in and everyone became silent. 

“hjitu st d Wds?ayyua o” She said quietly, taking a few steps inside, “?Rcheal...rto tomyeu egte? oh” 

“What did she say?” Max asked. 

_ “She asked if you got to meet Rachel…”  _ Sean said.

Following the colorful blob moving towards her, Max felt Chloe grab onto her hands, “toc l eleh tlycm esotyHRut ualoaho yi gat…” Chloe said softly, “wrhed aa lTil Ihe ts,” 

_ “Uh, Chloe says, holy shit you actually got to meet Rachel.” _ Sean said quickly and unenthusiastically before scowling at Chloe, “nfvm teem-nyInogg tcksatoIn. ietreg eetnuatsa'aawt l rrodn' tl goatnilhnr oyo”

“I did. I really did! I messed up the timelines so much again tho-” She was caught off guard when Chloe hugged her like a bear, “I couldn’t stay, but I did get to meet her.” 

“hlx,kwh ?n acsa aoeMSe Ra si” Chloe said excitedly, wiggling around.

He sighed,  _ “How was Rachel?” _

“Well, she was...it’s kind of a long story. There's a lot that needs to be unpacked so...I’ll explain it all to you after I come up with a plan to fix the future.” Max said slowly,  **It’s amazing how some deaf people still manage to speak despite not being able to understand anything they’re saying out loud.** Her mouth went dry thinking about what would happen if she was stuck like this forever.  **How would I be able to learn Spanish without being able to hear the English translation? Oh my god...that's literally what babies do. OH my god! How do babies do it!?**

_ “So what exactly do you need to warn us about? We’re gonna go to the auction and...I’m gonna die again?”  _ Sean asked. 

“Yes! Okay, so we need to avoid repeating our mistakes; we need to be more prepared because apparently you are a very sought after man here.” 

There was silence for a moment before Max could hear faint giggles trying to be held back,  _ “Thanks.”  _

“Unfortunately there's nowhere else to get the parts you need to fix the truck, so our only option is to go to the auction with caution,” She started,  **that rhymed,** “but everyone at the auction has a gun and the head-honcho dude wants you dead.” 

_ “Makes sense. I’ve been stealing his customers since I got here. It’s not my fault people would rather pay a humble family business to fix their cars as opposed to some guy who is the exact audience the “you wouldn’t steal a car” piracy commercial was targeted at.”  _

“I don’t know how we’re gonna get the parts back home safely because the only time he gives us the parts is after the auction, and I don’t want to risk having a power-meltdown sort of thing again; I am not about to go back to the old timeline. We HAVE to do things differently this time.” Max said, “We need to get it right on the first go.”

_ “How? What’s our new plan?” _

“No clue...normally when there's a situation like this I’m able to reverse time and just trial-and-error it until something works, but now we can’t because when I swap back to the original timeline it’s already going to be nighttime and the auction is going to be totally over. We need to be able to alert Daniel at just the right moment in order to save all our asses with his power, or we need to find another way to get the part without actually going to the auction.”

Sean stood up boldly and booked it out the door to go get Daniel; accomplishing the task that Chloe had previously failed.  **I wonder if she was eavesdropping the whole time? How’s she gonna react when I tell her everything about the alternate-alternate reality? I’d be pretty shocked if she was in my position and told me about how she was dating my ex who was only alive in one known reality** **and** **was the light of my life at one point** **and** **helped me deal with my fathers death** **and** **losing a childhood best friend. I hope everything is okay in the alternate-alternate reality right now...I sure did leave them on a rough note.**

Another rough note walked in with Sean, in a dreary voice he whined,  _ “I was having a moment out there; I was telling the guys about my ex-best friend! Why did you interrupt me?! And why do I have to speak Spanish...I’m too sad…” _

Sean set him in front of Max,  _ “Bro, you can be sad in Spanish.”  _

He let out a deep and frustrated sigh,  _ “Asterisk, asterisk is sad in Spanish- it’s not the same!!!”  _

_ “Suck it up, Max is from the future, she can’t hear or see anything right now, if you don’t put your big boy pants on right now I’m going to get shot again at an auction in a few days, and you don’t want that, do you?”  _

He sniffled,  _ “No…”  _

Max re explained the situation once again, telling him all the same details she told everyone else. Everything about the events that took place at the auction, everything that happened once they woke up in the sand, the alternate reality, and the unfortunate riffle through dog shit. She explained exactly where the plan went wrong and how they needed to be able to work together in order to obtain the specific part Sean needed to fix the truck and set everything back to normal. 

“This is like a video game! We have one life, and limited special abilities. Using our powers is like using stamina, and I don’t have that much stamina; I’m a lower level I guess. You need to help me come up with a plan that is going to work for both of us. How are we going to be able to get that part without getting ambushed?” Max asked.

_ “We’re all counting on you, Daniel.”  _

The sound of fingers snapping at an alarming rate morphed into what sounded like a crackling fire,  _ “Now way, nu-uh.”  _ Daniel whimpered, taking a few steps back,  _ “That's way too much pressure for me- I can’t, I-I can’t! I don’t wanna go somewhere I’m gonna die, I’m not ready for that kind of responsibility; I can’t even use the oven right.”  _ He *panicked in Spanish*

“We have to…”

_ “NO we don’t. You and Chloe could have my room forever a-and I’ll sleep in the garage. I’ve done it before!”  _ He pleaded, pointing at Damián right next to him. “We DO NOT need to do this.” 

_ “We have to!” _ “eh v tewao” All the adults said in unison. 

His heavy breathing sounded like wood being engulfed by flames; the boys lungs were crumbling. Max could see the two brother blobs merge into one slightly bigger blob. 

_ “Daniel, what do we do when our tasks are overwhelming?”  _ Sean asked calmly. 

_ “Stop hyperventilating and go to a happy place,”  _ He responded, and everything went silent again. 

And they stayed silent for quite a while. 

Like, a long time. 

Max couldn’t see anything. No movement, she couldn’t hear any noise. It was like everyone just disappeared. 

“Danny...are you still breathing-” 

_ “Yes. I am going to be okay. Max, we’re gonna plan this shit out now.”  _ He said, sitting down on the floor in front of her.  _ “Just close your eyes because we’re going into Minecraft for a second.”  _

**Minecraft?? I don’t even know-**

  
  


No sooner than her eyes had closed...there she was, standing in a blocky grass field with Daniel. The sun was square, the trees were square, and even the bees were square. It was quite possibly the most ambitious crossover in history. The only knowledge she had of minecraft was from thumbnails she saw in her youtube recommendations during her teen years, so it was very odd suddenly knowing everything about something she had never played before. 

Daniel stood wisly with a diamond pickaxe in his hand and a blocky dog beside his feet. This was the life for him. She reached out towards him, only to find that her arm now moved like an unbendable stump. Max let out a small gasp. 

“It is okay now, Max. We are free from the trials and turmoil of everyday life. We are safe here...in Minecraft.” Daniel said, his voice deeper and more soothing than normal. 

She went to push her bangs up in shock, but instead got stumped in the face, “How- how are we here?” 

“You can go anywhere if your imagination is strong enough,” He said, “don’t worry, we’re in peaceful mode right now so no mobs will attack us. We’re going to reenact breaking into the auction storage garages so that we’ll be prepared for the real thing.”

“Uhh...okay?” 

“Could you tell me what the place looked like? I’m going to attempt to rebuild it exactly.” 

Max had to think for a moment, “Well...it was a few metal looking garages in a row, I think there were a few shipping containers around the place too. One of the garages was really big, it looked like it held most of the items- ooh and I think that's where I saw Mr. Angel bring out the part Sean needed.”

With the blink of an eye there was an exact replica of the garages placed in front of her and she was stunned. 

“Does that look okay?” Daniel asked, tilting his head to judge his own work. Max nodded in agreement, “Okay, now if you turn to your right, you’ll see villager Sean, villager Chloe, and villager Damián. They’re going to help us with the simulation.” 

To her right stood her three normal looking friends, the only odd thing about them was the incessant “hmm”ing and “hah”ing they were doing. 

“Don’t try talking to them, they are just thinly veiled regular villagers with different skins. Trust me, they only want your emeralds in exchange for one goddamn pumpkin pie!” He pointed his eyes at villager Sean in disgust, “He’s a real cheap one and I hope he knows it.” 

“So...how are we gonna do this?” Max asked in confusion, “Do I get to have uhhh...that blueish sorta...magical tool thing?” 

“It’s a diamond pickaxe, noob. And no, you won’t be needing one. We’re gonna act this out in adventure mode so that it’s closest to real life. While I was building this I noticed a decently sized vent on the back of the main garage, I was thinking you and I could squeeze in since we’re the smallest and the most valuable since we both have powers.” 

**That makes sense,** Max thought, “Alright so…”

She blinked again and found herself crawling through an iron block vent, face to face with the stars on the bottoms of Daniel’s running shoes, which by the way, were as shiny and clean as iron. 

“Sean and Chloe are going to stay outside and watch over us in case anyone notices us sneaking in.” He explained as they crawled deeper into the dark and eerie vents, “Oh look, I can see some light so we must be getting close to the inside of the building.”

They didn’t need to go much further before Daniel reached around into his belt and took out his diamond pickaxe again and began mining through the blockade in front of them. 

He bust the upright, iron trap door down and they wiggled their way out into the open. This new room was filled with blocky versions of car parts Max recognized from the auction that took place what felt like ages ago. She didn’t know what any of them were called, but at least she knew what the part they needed looked like. It was going to take a long time to sift through all these different block-versions of car parts; there were hundreds of them stacked on every table. 

Suddenly, and conveniently, white flashing numbers appeared at the top of Max’s screen and her jaw dropped, “Uhm, what are those things in the air and why do we only have sixty of them?” 

“That's sixty seconds. I just got a message from villager Chloe saying that we’ve been caught and Damián’s diamond sword is almost completely used up so he can’t fend the bad guys off for much longer.” 

“wHAT!?!” Max yelled in panic. 

“We’ve gotta look for this part fast, do you remember what colour it is? I have an easier time sorting things by colour.” Daniel suggested urgently. 

“Uhhh- I think it had a big red sticker on the side of it?? Maybe it had a company name in white letters?” She spluttered. 

His body stayed still as his head spun around to scan the room for a matching description. Their time was now sitting at thirty seconds and Max wondered where all the time went. 

“Hmm, I’m not seeing it, Max. Give us more time.” 

Too sacred to not follow his orders, Max reversed time another thirty seconds and the clock gained numbers. Daniel scanned the room some more and the timer above continuously went down. Max desperately wished for him to hurry the fuck up. 

Her heart left her body when odd gurgles and grumbles came from outside one of the wooden doors at the front of the garage; it looked like something was trying to break in. 

“Oh my god, Daniel what's that?! Are they getting in??” 

He looked over to the door stoically, “It’s the zombies. They’re part of the game; they come out at night, break down your doors, and try to kill you. Don’t worry, they’re really slow so we can outrun them, and who knows: maybe they’re gonna get to Mr. Angel and his crew of skeletons first so we won’t need to deal with them ourselves. Just stay behind me, I know how to use a sword.”

Confused, Max got behind him and went along with everything. There were ten seconds left before Damián’s sword was going to run out of hits. 

“Awesome possum, Maxi-pad! It’s over there on that table in the far left, if we sprint over there and then back to the vent I think we’ll make it out in time. 

Their fingers intertwined much to Max’s dismay and they booked in across the garage, leaping over metal crates, and sliding under the widths of tables in perfect synchronization. It was like they had planned this beforehand?  **Has Daniel been subliminally teaching me this routine while I sleep? Oh god...is that why I dreamt of being trapped in a cave the other night?! Did he...did he take me mining?**

Without hesitation, Daniel brushed past the part and it disappeared into his inventory. The building around them started to crumble as the zombies finally broke the door down. There were dozens of green skinned zombies wearing tattered clothing walking towards the two of them with their arms stretched out. 

“We gotta go FAST.” Daniel said, taking her for a climb up a ladder that led to a wide beam on the ceiling. 

Max had faced a lot of fears today: being deaf, being blind, being deaf and blind at the same time, zombies, and now apparently Minecraft. She was terrified of Minecraft.

They speedily inched their way across the beam, hugging onto it for dear life. It led them straight back to above the vent, but there was no ladder on the other side to climb back down, and the hoard of zombies was approaching fast beneath them. 

“Daniel, what do we do?! How do we get down?!” Max screamed, her hands now violently shaking as she realized that his answer was most likely going to be jump off.

“Jump off. I’ll catch you with my power.” He said, holding out his hand the same way she did when she used her time travel power. 

**It’s just Minecraft Max...this is not real life. You can’t die.**

Holding her breath, she looped into an upside down sloth position on the beam and released herself. Seconds before smashing onto the ground she felt an invisible force keeping her body afloat and then setting her down gently on the cement. She looked up, amazed that she had just survived a ten foot drop, and saw Daniel smiling from above with a bucket in his hand. Boldly, he leapt straight from the beam and just within the nick of time dumped the water bucket on the floor and fell into it. She didn’t understand how falling into a bucket of water worked, but she wasn’t going to question the master’s methods. 

“Back through the vent!” He yelled, shoving her suddenly back into the vent.

Max’s knees felt like they were going to bust open as they smashed into the iron vents, Tears began to stream down her face as she realized her older body was not equipped for crawling through vents on her knees this many times in one day. At the bottom left of her screen she saw pixelated red hearts blinking away. 

“Daniel, what does it mean if I only have half a heart left?” 

“Oh fuck! You’re losing hearts really fast, Max. You’re too anxious! Did you know that the copious amounts of anxiety you’ve been experiencing your whole life have actually been causing it to decrease in years at an alarming rate?” 

“WHAT!?!!???” She screamed!!!

“Just keep crawling! Think of Chloe or something- anything that gives you the same feeling Minecraft gives me! Think of your happy place and breathe slowly.” 

**My god if it were fucking up to me Daniel and I would be on a pirate adventure right now- not being caused by blockheaded zombies in an iron tube!! Just think of Chloe...think of Chloe...Chloe and I are in her childhood bedroom right now, we’re reading our horoscopes on her bed and talking about how stupid and girly they are because we don’t care about how we’re a perfect match with Zac Effron…**

She felt the cool nighttime air hit her face as villager Sean and villager Chloe helped them out of the vent. But, there was no time to rest. 

Damián called out in a war cry, “HHHHHHHHHHH” and signaled for everyone to run off without him. He was going to save the day because he was cool and epic. 

Now they had the part Sean needed to fix the truck. Max and Daniel looked at each other. This was the perfect plan. 

Max opened her eyes again and found herself back in the blurry garage. She almost wished to go back to Minecraft...almost. 

_ “That seems like an alright plan guys, I’m proud of you Daniel. It’s very mature of you to link your special interests to real life problems, you know. Whatever works for you.”  _

Max wondered if everyone else in the room was hearing about the same thing she was going through or if Daniel was really right from the start and that “anything is possible if you have a strong enough imagination”.

“Okay,” Max said glumly, anticipating the part where she needed to go back to the regular timeline to see if things had actually worked out with their new plan, “I guess I’ve gotta go now...thanks for being so understanding guys. In a few minutes I’m gonna be all back to normal and you guys are gonna need to remind me about everything that just happened and then continue your night like normal.” 

She looked over to Chloe, wherever Chloe was- she couldn’t tell, “Remind me to tell you everything about Rachel when we have the time, okay?” 

“kyaO.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a whole month since last update, my only excuse is I've been writing 2000 word essay after 2000 word essay and looking at Google Docs is a hit or miss right now. I'm either writing Minecraft fan fiction or crying about the Opium wars/what the meaning of life is. Having philosophy and history in one semester is quite the combination and I do not recommend.


	32. We in the fire bitch!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get a little hot- but not in the cool way most people like.

**

A couple hours after the incident in the repair shop

With a face scrunched up in disdain, Damián stood by the doors at the front of the store with his bag in one hand and the leash in another.

_ “I didn’t want it to come to this but...I think I gotta leave.”  _ He said plainly,  _ “I try my best all the time, you know, but I’m a little bit freaked out right now. I mean, Chloe got shot today in the garage by some dumb-dumbs who wanted a bit of money. I could have saved her! I could have been like,”  _ he lunged quickly towards the side and out of the frame with a HOOAH,  _ “but no, I was like,”  _ he dropped his jaw in shock,  _ “and that's just bad! I’ve got bigger arms than her, I would’ve been more okay than she is right now. I didn’t even think anything when those guys came in-I-I…”  _ He sighed in defeat,  _ “If I’m gonna be with someone who has a kid I gotta be ready for this kind of stuff, and I just wasn’t today. So, I gotta go. I feel ashamed. Normally I’m not the kind of person to ghost someone, but after piecing together the english words I could understand during the conversation Max and Sean had, maybe it’s best I just get going. Might not be the best idea but I'll still be looking out for everyone, I just need some time away.”  _

He moved to begin walking away, but stopped in confusion for a moment,  _ “Mmm? Do you guys ever get that feeling where like...something just seems familiar? Like, I’ve been here before?”  _

And he was not wrong. What was this? The third time he’s left?

**

Max’s eyes blinked open slowly as a drop of water landed on her cheek and rolled down, colliding with the stream of blood coming from her nose. She looked around perplexed, and then panicked when she realized that she couldn’t move her arms. 

The camera panned out to reveal the rest of the group, Chloe, Sean, and Daniel, all sitting in chairs next to her tied up at the wrists and ankles. There was an ominous leak coming from the high ceiling above everyone, causing an isolated sound similar to a faucet that was accidentally left a tad bit open. The room was dark, only lit by the headlights from a car that was left unoccupied in the corner of the garage. 

Using the most advanced special effects, the camera zoomed in on everyone individually and ran a highly advanced diagnostics test. 

Max Caulfield: 

-Head injury caused by: Fist

-Minor bruising on arms caused by: crawling through vents with Daniel

-Nose: It is bleeding

-Dripping wet from heavy rain outside

-Current status: Just woke up; is confused. 

Chloe Price: 

-Left arm: Got shot three days ago in the repair shop; is pretending to be tough but it hurts so bad...really bad.

-Right boot: Gone. Location: unknown?

-Dodged every attack; got chloroformed instead. Resisted the chloroform.

-Anger level: 99% Reason: Wet hair stuck to face; cannot move it while hands are tied

-Current status: Has been up long enough to become overwhelmed by the urge to punch a bitch, but unfortunately cannot punch a bitch due to injury on right arm and the fact that the bitch is nowhere to be seen.

Sean Diaz: 

-In general: Hasn’t been okay since twenty sixteen

-Eye injury caused by: Leftover fist that hit Max

-Wet: yes

-Blood pressure: Too high!!

-Current status: Single

-Also: limited vision in his only working eye. Reason: Fist

Current current status: Woke up first; did not handle the waiting very well…

Daniel Diaz:

-Itchy level: broken scale. Reason: Used power too much.

-Current status: Covered head to toe in gasoline. 

Her jaw dropped open, “What the fuck went wrong, guys?” Max cried out of shock.

“We came up with a plan in Minecraft- and it wasn’t even the real Minecraft. What did you expect?” Daniel said, sarcastically, shrugging in his chair.

“B-but I thought Sean said it was a good idea?” 

“Yeah, that was until I realized you guys weren’t talking about the real garage. I didn't think you guys would actually be going along with your minecraft plan until we got here!? It sounded to me like Max, you already knew the layout of the garage. I don't know how your time travel stuff works!?” Sean said angrily. 

“And the plan got totally lost in translation for me, “Chloe explained, “I was just here to be emotional support for Sean.” 

“What happened to Sean?” Max asked, immediately dropping her head and taking back what she said.

The camera panned to him across the line of chairs and he shook his head, “Don’t.” 

Max nodded in agreement as she cringed at her poor question. 

“At first the plan started out okay, we actually estimated where the vents would be pretty well for two people who were imagining different versions of Minecraft in their own separate heads…” Daniel started as he began to lay out the timeline of their mistakes. 

**

They left the house at midnight on the dot. It took the three of them to drag Sean out of bed and into the van. He was unable to drive, so Daniel being the only other person who knew the way to the auction had to take the wheel, and that meant they got there in twice the amount of time it was supposed to take.

Through a seriously clenched jaw, Daniel said, “Driving is all fun and games when you’re practicing alone down the empty street near your house, or when you're sneaking out and taking your rag-tag team of friends to a concert. But right now it’s a little bit...not so fun...” He explained, eyes darting around at the speed of light trying to take in every little detail in his path. He laughed nervously, “I’m not cut out for this. I think I’m camera shy all of a sudden. Look away before I steer us off the road-” 

Politely the camera turned around to view Sean huddled up next to Chloe as she rubbed his hair and shushed him like a comforting mama. Man was a weeping mess. 

Max sat awkwardly with her hands in her lap; staring at nothing in particular. Kinda had lizard eyes.

**

“So anyway, we got to the docks a little bit late, but that was fine because no one was there.” Daniel continued, “The first thing we did was scope out the area to make sure that no one was hiding. Eventually we came across some vents in behind the garages here and Max said they were the same ones she saw in her head when we were brainstorming,” 

**

Happy little cheers came from inside the vent as Daniel finished squeezing his way inside. Max stood behind him trying to hype herself up enough to do the same. She looked back and forth between the small vent and the camera. 

“I don’t know…” She said sheepishly. 

“Max, it’s not that bad in here! The metal is actually pretty cool on your skin!” Daniel said from inside a muffled vent. He sighed peacefully, “Nice and refreshing!”

She crouched down onto her hands and knees and went to climb inside, but stopped abruptly when she saw the camera follow her down. Concerned she looked up at camera guy and Chloe, “Are they going in behind me?” 

“Max, it’s just for the documentary, it’s-” 

“I don’t want a full view of my butt on tape!” She said sternly, “This documentary is getting a little weird, don’t you think?”

“Dude, there are so many positives to having your butt on tape like this, “Chloe said, “for one: I think it’s cool. If I can’t follow your butt in there I might as well get a video of it. You're wearing pants, dude. Its chill.” 

Max gushed and scrunched her face up, “Awwwe, I mean, I wouldn’t want you to miss out on my butt…”

Daniel gasped from inside the vent, “Oh my god- Max DO NOT LOOK AT MY BUTT!!” He said in terror, “DO NOT LOOK AT MY BUTT. PLEASE. The thought of anyone- but especially an ADULT woman looking at my butt freaks me the fuck out.” 

Max gently reached her hand inside the vent and patted the back of his shin, unfortunately that set off big red flags in his head and he immediately sprawled out inside the vent like the toys in Toy Story when they heard Andy was coming. He yelped in pain. 

“I promise I won’t look at your butt. I’ll close my eyes.” Max said, taking her hand back in embarrassment. 

The secondary camera sat with Sean in the sand a few feet away as he held his face in his hands, “I am never going to get to see his butt again…”

Off all the things to start the waterworks back up again...that did it. 

**

“Okay, then after the butt stuff-” Daniel continued. 

The three adults tried to stifle their snickers. Chloe snorted.

Clearly pissed off and unamused by their immaturity, Daniel huffed, “What? You guys don’t like it when I say butt stuff?” 

“Daniel...stop. Stop saying butt stuff. I know you think it works in your sentence but it means something else.” Sean warned him, biting down on his tongue. 

He rolled his eyes dramatically, “I know what butt stuff means!! I’m not a baby! You guys just make everything so dirty.” 

“Ehhh, I don’t think there are many ways you can say butt stuff without it being used in a dirty context.” Chloe reasoned.

“Shut up! Whatever. Oh my god, anyway, after that Max and I started crawling through the vents and we kept crawling until we reached the inside and I had to break down the closed grate using my power. Everything inside looked actually pretty similar to what we saw in mental Minecraft, the only problem was that when we came out of the vent we immediately got seen by this group of dudes who were playing cards. The were extra fucking confused when they saw a kid, a white girl, and a camera crawl out of their garage vent.”

**

There was silence as five guys around a table all stared into the camera with puzzled looks. Since there was nowhere else to really go, the vent gremlins had to finish their long journey and stand up. 

Daniel brushed off his elbows,  _ “Ahhha...hey guys! Just...maintenance, you know?”  _ He said as casually as possible. 

Max nodded along with bug eyes. 

One of the guys pointed at them, he looked younger than the rest, but Daniel felt like he was a familiar face,  _ “Hey, didn’t you used to be Em’s friend? You went to his school or something? I swear I’ve seen you before?”  _

_ “Me? Nahhh! I’m a lone wolf; I don't have any friends,”  _ he gestured to Max behind him,  _ “she's just a colleague. A vent maintenance colleague…” _

The familiar man smiled,  _ “Nah-nah-nah, you’re Daniel. You’ve been ‘round my house before. I remember you- you were the weird one that didn’t talk much, spoke with the bad Spanish. You got too scared to ask Ma for a fork at supper so you ate with your fingers and then she yelled at you for having no manners. And you were looking like a sad little puppy with tears in your eyes and shit. I remember!”  _

Taken aback by how weird that man’s memories of him were he did a big ol’,  _ “Pfffft! I don’t even know who you are, man?” _

The man’s expression changed from happy to angry within a matter of seconds,  _ “He’s a Diaz, boys. You guys get that one while we go out and get the big one. I ain’t never seen one of the brothers by themselves; one of them always gotta be with the other one.”  _

**

“Turns out, that was Emillio’s older brother and I did actually know him. I used to hang out at Em’s house all the time but he always told us to avoid his older brother because he was into some pretty bad stuff...I guess the bad stuff was...well, here we are.” Daniel said, allowing everyone a small slot of time to take in their musty surroundings. “Max then told me to just go crazy and start flinging everyone around so I did that- sorta. My reaction time kinda sucks. I had one guy up in the air but then another guy was coming at me so I had to drop the one guy, but the there was another guy who was heading for the door and I wanted to stop him but then I had to have two guys up in the air at once- i-it was just a mess. One guy got out and then next thing I know Sean’s being dragged in through the door and Chloe’s on another guys back and she's kicking and screaming and only has one boot." He said enthusiastically, rocking about in his chair, "At this point I’m overwhelmed! I don’t know what’s going on?! I get grabbed by someone and tossed on the ground, everything is spinning, I’m scared so: I just pass out. I said fuck it- pass out.”

Sean cleared his throat, ready to explain the series of events that happened after that, “Once I was dragged inside, Max, you tried to help me.”

“Oh god...what was I thinking? Is that why my head hurts?” 

“Yeah you got absolutely destroyed. It was a one hit K.O. And the man had so much momentum built up that he just spun right around and got me in the eye right after and the room just went all hazy, I could hardly see Chloe. I'm lucky he didn't hit the glass eye because that could've been really bad.” Sean said, going to point to his face but remembering the ropes holding him back, “One good thing about this though is that my eye hurts so bad I don’t think I can cry anymore. But one bad thing about it...I can hardly see anything now. I am seeing everything through a tiny slit within a mass of swelling.”

Disgusted by Sean’s eye mass, Max cringed, “I’m so sorry about that.” She turned to Chloe, “How’d you go down?” 

**

Rabid Chloe road on the back of Mr. Random Goatee man like he was a bucking horse. He took her all around the room trying to hit her against anything he could. Tables, walls, vehicles, other people, you name it- he tried it, and Chloe was a force not to be reckoned with. Her grip on life was tighter than it had ever been. 

She took him down kicking and screaming and biting the back of his neck like a freaking vampire. The rest of the men all gathered around to watch their friend get beat up by a woman with one boot and too much spunk to handle. He was humiliated as his friends all laughed and pointed at him. Chloe stood up proudly and planted her heel into his chest and threw her arms up in the air. The whole crowd laughed and cheered at her victory.

**

Chloe slouched back in her chair all slick, “Yeah uhh- and then I got chloroformed. Some guy came up behind me and just stuck the cloth on my face and I tried to swing with my left arm but it hurt too much to move like that. Don’t remember anything after that cuz everything just went black. This isn’t even the same room.” 

“Oh yeah, forgot to mention that. I don’t know where we are anymore.” Daniel said, “All I know is I smell like gas.” 

Everyone looked at him skeptically. 

“Like... _ toot toot  _ gas?” Sean asked.

“Nah like car gas.” He said plainly. 

All their eyes widened (except for Sean's) and they all began to panic. The water they all thought they saw dripping off of him a few minutes earlier sure did look suspicious, but none of them suspected it was literal gasoline. The three adults started to violently try to wiggle their way out of their captivity chairs, grunting and groaning, but no use.

“What’s wrong guys?” Daniel asked in confusion, “It’s just a bit of gas...we’re in a garage with a bunch of cars and shit...I probably just got knocked out in a puddle.” 

Sean had to pause for a moment and look at him in disappointment, “Oh my god, are you dumb? You know what butt stuff is but you don’t know what could happen if you are in a garage full of cars AND people who are willing to shoot us on sight while being covered in gasoline?”

He blinked.

“Someone has clearly drenched you in gasoline and is going to use you as some kind of bait. You are dangerously combustible right now.” 

“Daniel, use your power to try to get one of us free!” Max suggested in a hurry, “We gotta get you out of here!”

Wiggling madly now that Sean had set off his anxiety he yelled, “I CAN’T! The room is still spinning and I can’t focus on anything! Am I gonna blow up?! Oh my god- I'm not ready to die!”

“Only if there's a fire-”

And then, as if it were planned, the garage door made that awful metal scratching metal sound as it opened, slowly revealing a darkened silhouette. The camera shook as thunder boomed outside, and the weather was very clearly getting progressively worse and worse. The scarce palm trees along the beach were being blown into sixty degree angles and a gust of thick, moist air blew into the garage. The door shut once again and everyone cringed as their ears had to endure the sound another round.

Hard heels stomped across the cement floor slowly as the silhouette approached. For dramatic affect the clip was not sped up- although it should’ve been. Everyone watched with squinted eyes (especially Sean) in anticipation as they waited for the headlights to grace the skin of whoever was walking in. 

The man stepped into the light as he came to a halt and crossed his arms, the light reflected off of his silver tooth and gleamed in the camera. His hair was plastered across his forehead and water dripped off of his white tank top stained with oil; he was also chewing some gum. 

_ “Sean-mother-fucking-customer-stealing-trespassing-little-bitch-with-a-fat-eye-Diaz.”  _ Mr. Ángel said, letting his bubble pop with class. 

_ “Okay, first of all, that is not my middle name-” _

_ “Can it.” _ He took long strides towards the line of bodies tied up,  _ “Not only are you putting me out of business, but now you try to trash talk too? Didn’t anyone ever teach you to respect your elders?” _

_ “Aren’t you forty or something?”  _ Daniel asked bluntly.

_ “I'm actually forty nine believe it or not. I know, I look young for my age. It’s what happens when you know how to manage your life and don’t let people like this low-life steal endless amounts of supplies from you and then proceed to run you out of business.” _ He said, shaking his head with a scowl.  _ “That’s right- I’ve known about your little borrowing problem for years now. Back in Caborca...at the old shop, I. Saw. Everything. And I’m finally gonna make you pay for it.”  _

He stood over Sean like a big ass crow and let his gum fall right into Sean’s lap; gum getting stuck on your clothing...nasty. 

_ “You didn’t go out of business because I took a few nuts and bolts from you years ago. You’re going out of business because you scheme and cheat people out of fair prices.”  _ Sean said in defense,  _ “What you saw was wrong- I don’t steal.”  _

Daniel made a face of disagreement and tilted his head. 

_ “Then what the fuck were you doing lurking around my shop today, huh? The auction was in the morning, you missed it by a bit there, bud.”  _

_ “We were just looking for you- we-we weren’t gonna do anything, I swear!”  _ He said as casually as possible.

_ “Explain why my guys saw those two,”  _ he pointed to Max and Daniel,  _ “come in through the vents with a camera.”  _

_ “Vlog.”  _ Daniel said quickly.  _ “We were filming a ‘staying inside a strangers garage for twenty four hours’ challenge vlog thing.”  _

His expression turned sour,  _ “What the hell is a vlog?”  _

_ “I-I...I don’t know how to explain it? It’s like a video thing where you just do stuff. It's like the word blog, but instead of a 'b' it's a 'v' for like, video blog, maybe? I don’t really get to watch YouTube these days so I'm just assuming whatever was trending during twenty sixteen is still trending now, we got shit Wi-Fi out here sooo...”  _

_ “DANIEL SHUT UP!”  _ Both Sean and Mr. Ángel said at the same time. They whipped their heads around and looked at each other angrily. 

“You don’t get to say MY brother’s name like that.” 

“And you won’t get to say it either…” His hand reached into his back pocket and he whipped out a little box of matches.

The gang gasped in unison. Using the little bit of juice left in his gas tank, Daniel focused on the box and flung it away. 

Everyone watched in silence as Mr. Ángel took out another box. He was prepared for this. 

He nodded smugly,  _ “That's right. I remembered your little brother's a demon. And I ain’t scared of him.”  _

Daniel rolled his eyes,  _ “If I’m a demon that makes her a demon too. Max will kick your ass in multiple realities.”  _

Sean made a face of disagreement and tilted his head. 

Mr. Ángel walked towards Max and looked her up and down,  _ “Who the hell even are you? I’ve never seen either of you here before? Are you the new kids on the block now- here to steal the rest of my business and turn it into some weird feminist bullshit? Pink hair streak…pfft. Go start a shoe business somewhere else.” _

The girls stared at him cluelessly. 

_ “You’re lucky they can’t understand you, cuz the tall one bit one of your guys earlier and I guarantee you she'd do it again. They’re our sisters- sort of. One of them is my almost-kind-of-but-not-really step sister, and the other one is her girlfriend-”  _

_ “UGH! What the fuck has this world come to? Divorced parents...demonic children...lesbianism!? What's next?”  _ He scoffed putting his hands on his hips,  _ “That sounds like the work of the gay agenda to me...everything is a mess these days.” _

His jaw dropped. The camera zoomed on flared nostrils, a black glass eye squeezed shut and then opening with rage, Sean wiggled his wooden chair as much as he could towards Mr. Ángel, and he didn’t even fall over. 

Although he wasn’t quite looking in the right direction, he had all of Mr. Ángel’s attention,  _ “I know there's no way I’m going to be able to change your mind; people like you are too stuck in their ways to learn anything, but I assure you the world is not a mess because of the “gay agenda”. The only things on my agenda are to get out of here, and fix the goddamn franken-truck sitting in my garage right now.” _

He went to open his mouth but was interrupted immediately. 

_ “Yeah that's right! If you wanna hate crime them- you’re gonna have to hate crime us all.”  _ Sean said triumphantly. Daniel made a small sound before Sean shut that down with an aggressive  **SHSHSPF** ,  _ “I spent the last good years of my life trapped inside the most edgy, toxic, straight white boy™ friend group imaginable. Like, call you the f-slur as a nickname kind of group. They’d skateboard past strangers and say racist things in the name of “dark humor”. Why did I put up with that? If there had to be one good thing that came out of having my entire life completely destroyed within an hour, it would be getting to live without societal expectations, man. I am never going to force myself to sit through a situation like that again, nu-uh.”  _

_ “Amen!”  _ Daniel said, encouraging the girls to awkwardly cheer along with him for a second. 

_ “I don’t know your life, sir, but I’m going to go out on a limb and assume you don’t know what it feels like to be so deep inside the closet it takes a group of pot-smoking hippies in the Californian woods to make you even CONSIDER saying certain things out loud to a breathing group of people.”  _ He spat dramatically. 

_ “I-” _

_ “So yeHa. You can hate us for stealing your ‘business’, which you honestly had coming, what I stole from you were the same things you stole from other people. The only difference between us is you didn’t have a moral dilemma about it in the shower at four am on a fucking Wednesday after working ten hours with no lunch and earning a fraction of the amount of money you were supposed to be getting all because you were stupid at seventeen and didn’t understand how labor laws worked. And you can hate us for trying to break into your garage and steal one little part to fix a stupid truck. But you can’t hate us for being a little different than the norm- because there is nothing wrong with that; it just makes you look ignorant. Yes stealing was a choice, but it was not a gay choice, it was a survival choice.”  _

The room was silent enough for the wind outside to clearly whistle through the cracks in the walls.

_ “Mmpfh, yeah I should’ve lit the match the second I walked in.”  _ Mr. Ángel said, shuffling open the match box and whipping out a match.

“NO!!!” Everyone yelled in unison. 

“Daniel, send it away again!” Max shouted.

Looking almost constipated he worked up enough strength to launch the match and the box across the room. Mr. Ángel looked at him and then at the box and then back at him and grumbled as he walked over to the box and bent down to pick it back up and take out a new one. The process repeated again over to the other side of the room and Mr. Ángel was sent on another trek across the garage. 

Getting absolutely furious the third time, he put his foot down,  _ “FoR FuCks sAkE kId?! let ME get My mATCHEs!!”  _

Instead of carrying the matches towards the group again, he thought it would be smartest to stick near the metal garage door that was covered by darkness. Sure this kid had telekinesis, but his powers stopped there; he didn't have night vision. If he did he would simply be too overpowered. 

He dragged the tip against the rough surface and a small portion of his face glowed with fire. He moved towards the wall and started pulling on what sounded like a chain in order to raise the garage door. The fire moved lower and lower along the match until the outside world was revealed once again. The sky had blackened even more than before, who knew what time it was now? 

Right before stepping out the door and into the storm he held his arm out at an awkward distance and dropped the match onto the floor and a wave of fire traveled along a gasoline stream far into the garage. The door screeched as it shut again and they were trapped. 

Fire engulfed boxes and tables; really anything wooden. It took no time at all for it to begin climbing up the support beams holding up the roof. It spread quickly like room temperature butter on toast fresh out of the toaster. 

Everyone's eyes (except for Sean's) lit up as the fire moved closer. 

Chloe shook in her chair, trying to break free. "Honestly, I'm starting to feel like I never should have made that gay joke in the truck on our way here. It wasn't worth it!" She said.

"WE'RE GONNA DIE!! WE'RE GONNA DIE!! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIEEE!!" Daniel wailed, rocking his chair from side to side. His crying made Max start to cry as well.

"We're not gonna die!" Sean told everyone, "We're gonna find a way out of this!" He said hopefully. 

A beam from the ceiling came crashing down in front of them, succeeding in bringing the fire even closer to Daniel.

"You need to use your power to help untie us, Daniel." Sean explained, calmly.

"I CAN'T!! I can't see the ties around anyone's hands- I can't do anything if I have nothing to focus on!"

"Oh God…" He groaned, tilting his head way back. 

Chloe turned to face Max with desperation in her eyes, “Just in case we really are gonna die right here can you tell me everything about meeting Rachel? What was it like to see her nine years later?” She asked. 

Max looked back at her and thought hard about what she was going to say, “She was kind of awful at times.” Max said. 

Another beam crashed into some crates in the background and embers floated up into the air. The room was quickly filling with smoke and it was becoming hard to see things through the lens. 

“What?” 

“Yeah, she was kind of awful for a lot of it.” Max said plainly, “It was fun to hang out with her when we were alone together because she felt like that girly best friend I never had as a teen. She took me shopping and stuff, and we got to gossip about our different realities a little; it was kind of fun, but it wasn’t worth it. She instigated so many fights at home and that made you upset all the time...it was like: I broke you and Rachel up, Rachel broke you and me up, and then you broke me and Rachel up, and no one was able to be happy together because we all liked each other too much and didn’t want to share- I don’t know?” She explained the best she could. 

Chloe gave a half-hearted smile amidst the chaos, “I guess that makes sense. Rachel and I weren’t the best pair in all honesty. Looking back now she wasn’t all teenage me made her out to be. She was a bit of everything all at once and that can be hard to handle...especially for nine extra years. I still miss her sometimes though.”

“Really?” 

“Yeah,” Chloe paused and thought, “Yeah. We would’ve had fun times, the three of us. But I always wanted it to be you and me...even before Rachel came around. Things would’ve been different right now if she were still here.”

“But maybe that's not better.”

“Maybe.” Chloe said quietly, “Was she still super pretty?” 

Max nodded sweetly. 

“Okay, I don’t wanna take away from the moment you’re having but someone is gonna need to come up with an idea to get us out of here before we burn alive.” Sean interrupted. “One of you try to turn your chair around so that Daniel could see the ropes holding you back.” 

The girls did what he said and tried to hop around on their chairs. But it was no use. Out of frustration Chloe leaned her chair back so hard it did what all elementary school teachers had warned you about. It teetered on the back legs. 

She gasped, “Max, we’re about to do dominos.” 

“What?” 

And then, in slow motion, Chloe leaned left and then launched herself right. She repeated it again with more force.

“C H L O E ! ! !” Max yelled. 

During her last fateful lean Chloe’s chair tipped over to her right and she collided with Max. 

“G E T R E A D Y ! ! !” Chloe yelled back. 

“C H L O E N O O O O ! !”

The weight of Chloe’s chair hitting Max resulted in Max crashing down in sync with Chloe. They did exactly what was supposed to happen: dominos. Chloe’s right arm hit the cement floor and she wasn’t able to do anything about it she bounced helplessly in slow motion as her body and the chair laid sideways on the ground. 

“O W W W W I E E E E ! ! !” She screamed, biting onto her bottom lip and shutting her eyes in pain. 

Max’s chair fell right in front of Daniel and her arms were now visible to him. He freed her from the ropes that held her arms behind the back of the chair and Max quickly rubbed her wrists. She circled around with her new and increased mobility skills and he was able to free her ankles in a short amount of time as well. 

The slow motion stopped and Max was able to find her balance and free Daniel. While Max helped untie Chloe and pick her up from the ground, Daniel helped his brother break free. 

By now the big metal garage door was completely blocked off by the fire and the smoke was too thick to see any other exits. They all looked around like lost children at the zoo.

Chloe rubbed her non-shot arm in pain, “This is officially the worst adventure ever. I-”

Max had to nod in agreement and huddle up with her. She began to hack up her lungs.

“How are we supposed to get out?” Chloe asked, covering Max’s head in her chest. 

“I-I don’t know?! Chloe, we got dragged in through a regular side door in the last garage, so there's probably one in this garage too! Try knocking down some of those crates over there.” He said, giving Daniel a nudge. 

Daniel held out both his hands and suddenly five large crates crashed onto the floor and the fire only got bigger and bigger. The sound of a windshield shattering made everyone cover their ears. 

There was a brief moment of silence before the car exploded sent the pieces of glass flying in every direction. Before any damage was caused Max reversed the event. 

“NO! Don’t move those- they’re going to hit that car and shatter the glass! Try moving the ones in that corner over there where there's no fire yet!” Max suggested.

“Aye-aye captain.”

And again, he did just that. He moved the crates one at a time and more methodically, but there was no sign of any exit. 

“Fuck.” Sean said simply, stomping his foot. Now he had started coughing as well. 

“Why don’t we just try to walk a bit closer to the sides so we could see better?” Daniel asked. 

“Dude, we gotta keep you away from the fire. Actually, for all we know we’re probably covered in gasoline too.” Sean explained. 

As Max started heaving and coughing even more they all decided to squat down and re-coup. Beads of sweat ran down everyone’s smoke stained faces and another beam came crashing down, taking those five crates from a few moments ago down with it. The car didn’t explode this time but Max braced herself for it anyway. 

Sean crouched into a ball and hid his head between his knees and rocked back and forth, “I’m not normally a God person, but God if you hear this: DON’T LET US DIE HERE.” 

“Sean, I wanna go home!!” Daniel cried. 

“I know...I know.” Sean said back, wrapping his brother up in his arms to help him breath. 

Chloe held onto Max’s head so tightly and spoke into the top of it, her voice was muffled in Max’s hair, “I shouldn’t have waited this long to tell you, but the other night when we all stayed at Damián’s house, when I was talking to him outside I asked him if he could make something for me.” Max nodded in acknowledgement, “He made me this really neat ring that I was gonna give to you, and...Max I wanted to-” 

Chloe was cut off by aggressive banging on what sounded like a door,  _ “HEY!?”  _

Daniel whimpered, “Oh God, what the fuck is that now?!” 

_ “HEY?! IS ANYONE IN THERE?!”  _ The banging continued. 

The gang all looked at each other and decided to collectively start screaming for help at the top of their lungs. 

In a matter of seconds an unsuspecting door across the room fell over into the fire and light from the outside world finally shone in. The door was blocked almost completely by the fire, but still, through the flames stood Damián in all his glory. 

His jaw dropped at the state of the place,  _ “Hang on everyone- I’m going to find a way to get you guys out!”  _ He said, running away from the opening for a few seconds before bringing back a long metal plank and throwing it out to make a bridge over the fire that connected to their little safe circle inside. It didn’t solve the problem necessarily, but it was a start, and on top of that, the rain outside helped put out some of the fire around the door. He took handfuls of sand from the ground outside and threw the sand as quickly as he could around the metal bridge.  _ “Get up guys! Try running across the plank before it’s too late!”  _ He yelled, shielding his eyes from the storm. 

Max was the first one up, and Chloe followed along with her. They held onto each other’s hands and carefully traveled across the make-shift bridge that Damián made. The camera followed behind them as they made it out into the fresh air again. They collapsed into the sand as the harsh rain cleaned their skin off. 

Back inside, Daniel said, “Y-you go first, Sean. I’m not ready.” 

“No, come on. You gotta go first.” 

“NO. I gotta stay back and make sure nothing falls on you. Hurry up and go!” He said, shoving Sean towards the bridge.

Reluctantly, Sean crossed the plank and reached out for Damián’s hands as he came to the end. His legs buckled as the wind and rain hit him and Damián helped him settle down in the sand with the girls. 

Now it was only Daniel left inside the burning garage. He lunged back and forth trying to get ready to sprint across the plank. 

_ “You can do it! If you go really fast the fire won’t hurt you, trust me.”  _ Damián told him, holding out his hands for him to grab as well. 

He shook his head fearfully,  _ “I can’t. If the fire touches me I’m gonna blow up! They poured gasoline all over me!!”  _ He explained in panic. 

_ “You see those tires right there? Bring them down a-and stack them up on the plank. That way the fire won’t be able to touch you.”  _

Trusting him, Daniel took down the three tires and stacked them up like a little stepping stool, but he was still paralyzed with fear.  _ “I can’t.”  _ He said again. 

“Daniel, just do it!” Sean yelled from outside in an exhausted tone. 

_ “I am coming in to get you.”  _ Damián said, placing his first foot down on the wobbly metal plank. 

He stepped slowly onto the tires and then leaped into the quickly decreasing amount of safe space Daniel was stuck standing in. With big open arms he managed to pick Daniel up; wedding style. The plank wobbled even more now that he had to inch his way slowly across, all while keeping Daniel high enough away from the fire. They climbed up over the tires very strategically and then toppled out of the door frame and onto the ground. 

Safe at last...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done my classes. I am thriving. Sipping juice out of a coconut- jk it's a week old plastic water bottle. Who isn't doing that though right?


End file.
